Forever After Everafter
by AllWasWell05021998
Summary: 2 years after Voldemort's final fall, Britian's magical community is dwindling away. The MOM decides to reenact the marriage law of 1688. Using the Book of Life, the ministry pairs couples to start the repopulation effort. But what happens when the book finally gets it wrong?
1. Teaser

Divination was never an exact magic. Everyone knew that. She herself had mocked it on a number of occasions, calling it a worthless subject. So why had the ministers words shocked her so much?

Her hand shot to the seat next to hers, fingers gripping the tall redhead's for comfort. Taking a deep breath, letting the logical part of her mind smother down her emotions, she turned her head back to Kingsley. "What do you mean the book has no partner for either of us?"

Kingsley placed his folded hands on top of the very worn leather bound book and replied, "I am sorry Miss Granger, but the book has no match for you because you..." He glanced at her companion, "and you, were both supposed to die at the battle of Hogwarts."


	2. A not so typical Tuesday

**:Flash back 3 days:**

The noises of a typical busy Tuesday morning at the Burrow greeted Hermoine as her consciousness slowly overtook her dreams. She could hear the sound of the fireplace roaring as Mr. Weasley and the boys headed off to the Ministry for work. The sound of Ginny loudly complaining to her mum about the ungodly hour the Harpies' manager made them start practice, and the sound of something sizzling in a skillet in the kitchen.

Smiling slightly, Hermione gently lifted her eyelids to take in the room around her. Ginny had been nice enough to pull the heavy drapes over the window to block out the mid-spring morning sun. She made a mental note to thank the younger witch when she saw her next. Glancing at the bewitched muggle alarm clock on the table next to her, she saw that it was only 8 in the morning. Groaning, she rolled over, pulling the covers up over her bushy head to help muffle some of the noise.

She had only been asleep a few hours at most. Her studies had kept her up much longer than she had anticipated the night before, and the night before that, and the one before that too. Her hogwarts habit of getting up early every morning had gone the wayside merely days after she finished her seventh year.

"Oh Ginny, if you don't like it you can always quit the team." She heard Molly's voice drift in through the slightly cracked door, "Then you and Harry can get married, and you can start a family."

She heard Ginny let out a snort of indignation. "Mum, how many times have I told you that Harry and I are not engaged, and that we are perfectly happy to keep it that way for awhile. Besides, I can't start a family now, I was just made perminent on the team!"

"Well, really Ginevera, the two of you have been going together steadily for quite some time, two years at least by my count. You can't keep this up for much longer without some forward progress!"

"He asked me to move in with him. That's forward progress if you ask me." Ginny huffed out.

The sound of metal clattering on stone had Hermione jumping out of bed, wand in hand and darting out of the bedroom door. It wasn't until she fervently raced into the kitchen, wand raised, that she realised Molly had dropped the pot she was holding at Ginny's admission.

"GINEVERA MOLLY, oh sorry to frighten you Hermione dear, we are all fine here, YOU HAD BETTER HAVE TOLD THAT BOY NO!" Mrs. Weasley hollered, dripping wet hands on her hips in her signature 'don't cross me, I'm your mother' way. Hermione dropped her wand and glanced around the kitchen just to be sure.

A dull thump had her snapping her attention back to the young witch seated at the table. Her forehead now firmly pressed into it, arms draped over her head. "Of course I told him no, much to his dismay I might add" her muffled words came "I know the rules!"

At that Mrs. Weasley curtly nodded, a small smile turning up the ends of her mouth, turning back to pick the pot up off the floor and continued washing it. Hermione walked over to the long, worn wooden table and set herself down across from her friend. Glancing down to see the magically etched stick figure fight that one of the twins had placed there years before.

"Would you like a spot of breakfast, Dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked over her shoulder. "I was just fixing Ginny's, I had not expected to see you up so early but I can just throw some more sausages in--"

"No, that's ok Molly, thank you. I'll just have a cup of tea." She hurriedly interrupted what she knew was going to be a long winded diatribe about how skinny she was. She truly loved the woman that had become her second mother, but she had memorized that speech months ago. "And then I had better get back to work, I think I may have had a small break through last night. Thank you for letting me stay here this last week. The view from your hill is exactly what I needed."

Ginny's head popped up from the table at that. "What are you working on now?"

Hermione observed the girl across from her as a steaming cup of tea set itself down on the table in front of her. She really had matured into a beautiful, bright young woman. Taking a sip of her drink she responded, "I've been working on improving the polyjuice potion, mapping the stars to see how they affect the final product so I can find a way to brew a more consistent potion. The planets are set to align with the sun in three days and last night I noticed that just as Mercury started to move into position the bubbling nearly doubled in the potion, and when I drank some the effects lasted nearly double the time it should have. That was with just one planet in position, I think that if I can observe the natural display of magic when they do allign, I can mimic it whenever. That will help with various different projects. I'll be able to brew stronger potions, and conjure more powerful spells."

She had taken to rewriting spells and potions in her free time during her last year at Hogwarts, inspired by Snape's old potions book. Neville, Ginny, and Luna had helped her from time to time. They had tried to recover the book from the room of requirement, to share his knowledge with the rest of the wizarding world and immortalize his name in magic, but the wildfire had burned it to ashes along with nearly everything else during the battle. Since graduating nearly a year ago, she had had five new spells, and two new potions approved and published by the Ministry, along with various revisions to other spells and potions.

"That's amazing Hermione! Are you saying that if I hex Ron on the 5th, and say, turn him into a toad, it will basically be perminent?" The mischievous glint in her bright green eyes reminded her so much of the twins that it had Hermione grinning into her cup as she took a long gulp.

"Not perminent per se, the hex would just last, by my calculations, about five times longer." The hopeful gleam faded slightly from her friends eyes.

"That's a shame, it'd be great for people to know what a toad he is without having to get to know him." she whispered, nervously glancing to see if her mother was listening. "How are you doing by the way? you know, with...everything?"

Hermione sighed, she and Ron had decided to keep things platonic between them while she was finishing up her schooling. They had said that if they still wanted to pursue a relationship then, they would give it a real shot. That's not exactly how it had happened though. During holiday, Ron had brought a girl home to meet the family, to everyone's surprise, they had been seeing eachother for months. Ginny still had not let him live it down either. She called him 'Trevor' as often as she could. It was her inside way of insulting him and showing solidarity with Hermione, compairing him to Neville's late toad.

"Gin, really, I'm fine." she sighed, setting her now empty cup down, "I honestly think it is better this way. We would have driven eachother mad and you know it."

"He's still a toad." She murmured, crossing her arms over her chest.

She smiled slightly at her friend, pushing herself up from the table to take her cup to Mrs. Weasley at the sink. Kissing her slightly weathered cheek as she set the cup on the counter, "Thank you again Molly, I'm going to floo back to my flat to shower and change."

The older witch dried her hands and snatched her up in a comforting hug. "It really is no problem, Dear. We love having you around. You'll be coming over later to floo to the Gala with everyone else? Kingsley said he was going to make a very important announcement during the ceremony."

She stared at her only a moment before realizing what she was referring to. Today was May 2nd. It had been exactly 2 years since the battle of Hogwarts and the school was holding it's annual memorial gala tonight.

She nodded, "I'll be here. What time--?"

"We will all be flooing over around 7."

Hermione nodded, smiled, and squeezed her lightly one last time before heading towards the family room fireplace.

 _A not so typical Tuesday afterall I guess._ She thought as she climbed into the ashy stone arch. A roar filling her ears as the room spun out of view.

 **So here we have it. Chapter 1 is done (totally rhymed). I know it is a lot of fluff, but it helped me to set up where in the timeline we are and what most of the characters are up to before all of the excitement starts. That being said, let me know what you think, of the chapter and the premise of the story.**


	3. The Sleepsong of Silence

A faint buzzing sound pulled Hermoine from her work. _Oh bollox,_ She though, _I've lost my wand_ _again._ Looking about her flat, she was reminded again how glad she was that she lived alone. Rolls of parchment were strewn from one end to the other, littering nearly every surface. Some crumpled up, others just thrown aside. The ideas that came almost as fast as they were dismissed scribbled on them. Sifting through the mess on her work bench she finally found her wand and flicked it to turn the alarm notification off. She sighed, she had intended to get in a short nap before she had to start getting ready for the gala, but as always, her work had consumed her.

With a few well practiced swishes of her wand, the discarded parchment was gone. Transforming her small 2 bedroom flat back into it's more tidy state. She would never call it fully clean, or organized, not with the mountains of books and magical instruments that had long ago outgrown her floor-to-ceiling shelves and spilled out onto every other available surface. She needed a workshop, someplace she could keep all of her research and projects, but with the small salary she earned from the Minisrty for her work, she would never be able to afford it.

Walking the short distance from her open living space to the spare room she opened the door and moved inside. She needed to be sure the cooler air from the rest of the flat could find its way into the small room. Teddy would be coming back from the gala with her tonight, to give Dromeda some alone time after the emotional event, and she wanted to make sure the room would be comfortable for him. This room was his afterall, he stayed with her almost as often as he stayed with Harry. Both of them took their godparent responsibilities very seriously. It was the only room in the flat that was not overflowing with her work, instead it was filled with toys and photos of his parents and family.

She smiled, running a finger gently over the thin glass of the most recently added photo. It was from Teddy's second birthday party a few months previous. Hermoine and Harry were holding the grinning toddler in the center, his hands, face, and shirt covered in light blue frosting. The whole of the Weasley clan surrounding them, including the very pregnant Fleur, her husbands hand gently rubbing his wife's swollen stomach. They all smiled up at her as she watched her and Harry simultaneously lean in to kiss the young boy on each cheek, much to his squealing delight. It had been a beautiful day, and an even more beautiful celebration. Her wand gave her another small warning buzz and she sighed again and turned from the room to get ready for the gala.

An hour, some light make-up, a simple twisted updo, and a modest sparkly dress later, Hermoine was stepping out of her front door. With a slight spin and a loud _POP_ , she apparated to just outside the wards of the Burrow and began making her way towards it. As she neared she could hear that she was one of the last to arrive. Molly and Fleur's voices drifting softly from the kitchen, the sound of a baby wailing from somewhere in the family home, and hardy, mischevious laughter coming from Mr. Weasley's workshed.

As she raised her fist to gently knock on the door frame Mrs. Weasley appeared before her, "Oh Hermione, Love. You know you can just let yourself in whenever. No need to knock, you are family afterall."

"Sorry Molly, some habits die hard." She said stepping across the threshold. The older witch immediately embraced her fondly.

"It's so great to see you." She squeezed.

"She's only been gone a few hours, Mum. You saw her this morning." The voice came from the doorway as Fred made his way inside, followed closely by his other half.

"Yeah Mum, you never greet us like that, even when we have been away for a whole day!"

"Blimey, Hermione, you look fantastic!"

She blushed slightly, the color tinting her softly tanned skin. "Why thank you Fred, you don't look half bad yourself."

"You look like a ruddy disaster next to me though dear Brother. Doesn't he Herms?" George grinned at her as he clapped his brother on the shoulder. "As I am obviously the better looking Twin."

"Oi! We're identical!" A small playful frown crossing his face as he shrugged out from under his brothers arm. He pulled Hermione from his mothers grasp to give her a slight squeeze and a quick peck on the cheek.

"It's good to see you join the land of the living." He said as he passed her off to his brother, who mirrored his greeting.

"Yeah, it seems we only ever catch glimpses of your bushy hair fleeing a room anymore. You are becoming as elusive as one of Luna's famous Nargles, or Freddie's love life."

"Oi!" he repeated, smacking his twin lightly on the back of his head, earning him a round of chuckles from the room's occupants.

"Aw, Fred, having trouble with the ladies are we? I figured being a handsome, successful business man would mean the birds would be lining up outside your door."

"Did ya here that brother mine?" He said, laying his hand mockingly across his chest like a love-struck schoolgirl. "Handsome and successful, high praise coming from the mouth of the most beautiful of all the birds." He gave her his signature flirty grin. "And it's not that they are not lining up, it's just that they are too daft or dull to hold my attention longer than one date. Sometimes not even that long."

She was about to respond when a teal haired toddler scrambled into the room, hands firmly pressed over his ears. "Auntie Mione make 'er stop!" he hollered, throwing himself into Hermione's waiting arms. "I wuv her, but I can't take it anymore!"

"What's wrong my little Teddy Bear?" She asked lifting the toddler up and smoothing his untidy hair down fondly. Kissing him gently on the forehead.

"He definitely has his mother's dramatic tendencies." She heard George whisper to Fred.

" _She,"_ he enunciated, throwing his little arms in the air. "won't stop crying! You need to stop her."

"How am I supposed to do that?" She asked him, feigning innocence with wide eyes.

He contemplated for a moment, a frown creasing between his little eyebrows. "You 'ave to sing to 'er. Like you sing Teddy Mummy's song." He finally decided.

Hermione looked up to Fleur, a single eyebrow raised, silently asking permission.

"Please, ve vill try any'sing at zis point." Fleur responded. Hermione took in her tired appearance. She was still astoundingly beautiful, the dark tint under her eyes and her exasperated expression were her only giveaways.

She nodded, smiling faintly at her friend "Okay, Teddy, lets go sing to baby Victoire." She set him down and took his small hand so he could lead her into the den where Bill was pacing, trying to calm his screaming newborn.

He looked up at her as she came into the room. "You've come back with reinforcements I see there, Teddy." He grinned at her. "You look lovely as always Hermione." He said kissing her cheek as she took the baby from his arms.

"Why thank you Mr. Weasley, you look quite dashing yourself." She adjusted the tiny squirmimg bundle in her arms until she was holding her comfortably, and made her way to the couch.

"Go spend some time with your wife, Bill. I'll get her to sleep." She stated, gently rocking the baby. Teddy came over to stand next to her, his small hand delicately stroking Victoire's short silver hair, mimmicking what Hermiome always did for him.

As soon as the first soft notes hummed out of Hermione's throat, the infant stopped crying and squirming, her bright blue eyes snapped open to stare at the source.

" _Loo-li, loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay_

 _Loo-li, loo-li, loo-li lai-lay_

 _Lay down your head and I'll sing you a lullaby_

 _Back to the years of loo-li lai-lay_

 _And I'll sing you to sleep_

 _and I'll sing you tomorrow_

 _Bless you with love for the road that you go_

 _May you sail far to the far fields of fortune_

 _With diamonds and pearls at your head and your feet_

 _And may you need never to banish misfortune_

 _May you find kindness in all that you meet"_

She watched as the baby's heavy lids began to drift down, Leaving a shining crescent of silver against each of her pale cheeks.

 _"May there always be angels to watch over you_

 _To guide you each step of the way_

 _To guard you and keep you safe from all harm_

 _Loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay"_

Teddy's voice faintly joined hers for the last few vurses. Litting out the words in Gaelic instead of English, just like she did when she sang the song for him.

 _"May you bring love_

 _and may you bring happiness_

 _Be loved in return to the end of your days_

 _Now fall off to sleep,_

 _I'm not meaning to keep you_

 _I'll just sit for a while and sing loo-li, lai-lay_

 _May there always be angels to watch over you_

 _To guide you each step of the way_

 _To guard you and keep you safe from all harm_

 _Loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay, loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay"_

As the last notes of the song drifted away, Hermione smiled down at the peacefully sleeping infant in her arms. Watching the even rise and fall of her chest, she became increasingly aware of the unusual quiet in the house around her. She had never heard it so quiet in this house, not even a ruffle of an owl's feathers could be heard.

Looking up she saw eleven and a half astonished pairs of eyes staring back at her, the half being Bill's one good eye. Flicking her eyes from face to face she noted some even had their mouths gaping open in surprise. Molly, Andromeda, and Fleur all had tears streaming down their faces. Her eyes finally came to rest on Fred, his face showing an unreadable expression and something she had never seen before dwelling in the depths of his blue eyes. He met her eyes briefly before turning to his right and then his left. Using one finger on each hand he simultaneously pushed both Ron and George's mouths closed. Smirking at her as he did so.

"You'll catch flies." He said, breaking the eerie quiet in the room. A few people chuckled and a few sniffled as Hermione stood to pass the sleeping baby back to her mother, kissing her gently on her tiny button nose before stepping away.

"Blimey, Mione, I didn't know you could sing." Ron stated, still looking slightly awestruck.

"Where--," Squeeked Andromeda, before clearing her throat softly. "Where did you learn that song?" she asked. Hermione could feel her already blushing face turn Weasley-hair-red.

Before she could answer Teddy bounded over to his grandmother, "It's Mummy's Teddy song." he stated matter of factly.

"Yes it is." Hermiome smiled at him broadly, and lightly skimmed his nose with a teasing finger. "I heard Tonks sing it to him when she and Remus brought him to Shell Cottage to meet all of us." She explained with a shrug. "Before he came to stay with me the first time, I used the pensieve to pull it from my memories so I could learn it and sing it to him. I wanted him to always have a piece of her. She sang it in Gaelic that night, so I did too." She finished in an embarassed huff, eyes cast down to her silver painted toes.

Without warning she was pulled into another tight, slightly watery, hug. "Thank you." Andromeda whispered in her ear before pulling away to wipe a few more tears off of her cheeks.

"Well!" Mr. Weasley clapped into the growing awkward silence, causing various people to jump at the sudden sound. "We had all better get going, or we'll be late. Off we pop!"

They took the floo three at a time, Hermione climbing in with Fred and George, a moment later climbing out of the fireplace in the Headmistress's office at Hogwarts.

Fred helped to brush some of the soot off of her left side as George helped with the right. "Well," George said, stepping forward, offering his arm to Hermione "let's get this shindig started!"

"Lets." Hermione smiled, stepping up to him and took his arm. A moment later, a soot-free Fred stepped up and offer his arm to her as well, which she gladly took, grinning up at him. Together the three made their way out of the office and into the familiar corridors of the rebuilt castle.

 **Ooookay! I realized that I completely forgot to say that I don't own any of the Characters in this story, unless I come up with a few OCs. All rights go to J.K. herslef (J.K. For Minister Y'all!). The song in this chapter is not mine either, it is called "Sleepsong" by David Arkenstone.**

 **I know my grammar and punctuation is not perfect. It doesn't help that my phone's autocorrect and predictive text features do not always see eye-to-eye with me. So bear with me.**

 **With that being said, let me know what you think!**


	4. A Trip Down Memory Corridor

The trio talked merrily as they made their way down to the great hall. Hermione laughing at the twins banter as she walked with them arm-in-arm. It used to drive her mad when she was younger, listening to them talk in the way that they do, constantly finishing each others sentences. They used to have her moving her attention from one to the other so rapidly that she'd swear she'd given herself whiplash. She had since learned not to move her whole head, but rather just her eyes when they did this. It still made her dizzy sometimes though.

As they rounded the corner to the seventh floor corridor an eerie feeling swept through her. She had not been in this part of the castle in two years. She pointedly avoided it during the rebuilding effort. She looked around realizing where they were and stopped dead, clouded eyes staring to the spot ahead. George, in the middle of an amusing story about a potion gone wrong turning him blue, didn't notice and allowed her arm to slip from his as he continued ahead, laughing and gesturing wildly.

 _Here it is._ She thought, _here is where it happened._ She looked up to Fred who had stopped just as suddenly as she had. He was staring down at her, the same haunted expression mirrored on their faces.

 _Why did you do it?_ She barely heard the voice whisper in her head. It wasn't her normal sounding inner voice, much less feminine, she had only on occasion heard this one. With their eyes locked, she could have almost sworn it was Fred's voice she heard, but she knew his lips had not moved. _I couldn't let you go._ She responded wothout thinking, she would chide herself later for talking to the voices in her head again. _I couldn't let you leave me._

"Oi, you lot!" They both jumped and looked back down the corridor where George was rounding the corner, coming back into view. "Imagine my surprise when I get to the end of the funny part of the story and there is no one there to laugh. If you two needed a minute to snog, you just had to ask. The room of requirement," he pointed to the blank wall to his left. "would have been more than willing to give you a private space." He stated that last part with a wink in Hermione's direction.

"Georgie," Was all Fred had to say, his voice wavering slightly as he looked at his twin.

George looked around, and as if suddenly realizing what had come over his two companions, the goofy smile dropped from his face. "Oh," Was all he said.

For a few minutes they all just stood in uneasy silence, not risking looking at one another. "You three had better get down there. They are going to begin soon." Came a familiar voice from the end of the corridor that George had just come back from. "You wouldn't want to miss any of the festivities."

Hermione looked past George to the girl floating behind him. Her eyes widening in shock, as she was suddenly transported back two years to this exact hallway.

 _She bounded up the stairs, Greyback hot on her heels, her breath coming in heavy gasps. "You cannot run from me, Pretty. I will finish what I started back at the Manor." He snarled. Her only response was a hasty spell thrown over her shoulder in his direction. It missed him, causing the stone railing inches from his hand to explode. He growled and charged after her again, coming at her even faster than before._

 _She made it to the corridor where she knew Fred and Percy were holding death eaters back from the Room of Requirement. She was rounding the corner calling out their names just as a rough hand grabbed ahold of her and dragged her back. She let out a guttural scream as she was slammed against the stone wall, her head connecting hard with the stone. Her wand dropped from her hand and rolled away._

 _"Now I have you my Sweet." His putrid breath washed over her face and she gagged. "I can take my time with you now, taste all that lovely flesh before I rip out your pretty little throat."_

 _He trailed one pointed fingernail down her neck, hard enough to scratch her skin, but not enough to break the surface, before firmly gripping her hair and yanking her head to the side. "Let's have a little taste."_ _He grinned viciously before dropping his face into her neck and slowly he trailed his tongue from clavicle to jaw. "Mmm." He hummed out in appreciation, "I can taste your fear, it always makes the meat taste sweeter."_

 _Squeezing her eyse shut she screamed again when she felt his sharp teeth start to rub across her skin._ _"Let her go you filthy half breed!"_

 _Hermione's eyes snapped opened as the teeth stilled on her neck, she could feel the wicked grin pull across his face as his hot breath moved along her neck. She looked behind him to see Lavendar Brown, her wand pointed firmly at the werewolf's back._

 _Greyback pulled away, still pinning Hermione against the wall. "Well, well. It looks like I get to have an appetizer before my main course." He directed over his shoulder. "But I can't let you get away in the meantime." He stepped in closer to her and using his immense strength crashed his knee into her thigh and twisted, a loud 'pop' indicatong a successful break. He tossed her to the side as she screamed in pain._

 _Through her tear-filled vision she watched in horror as he advanced on her classmate, jets of coloured light bouncing in the hall around him as he deflected the girl's efforts. Hermione looked around her and spotted her wand a few feet away laying in the battle's debris._

 _With a quick glance up she saw that Lavendar was, so far, successfully holding the brute back, but she didn't know how much longer she would be able to. Lavendar had never put much effort or thought into her schoolwork, spending most of her time at Hogwarts collecting and spreading gossip with the Patil twins. She was fast on the draw, but her spells didn't seem to always do what she wanted._

 _She held her breath and bit down hard on her lip to keep from screaming in pain again as she dragged herself across the cold floor towards her wand. Just as her hand closed over the familiar handle, she heard a blood curdling scream and shot her head up to see the werewolf had proved the more powerful adversary. He lay crouched on the stone hallway, the slight body of Lavendar Brown pinned beneath him, a small ring of red growing around her head._

 _Desperately Hermione shot a silent hex at the monster. The jet of blue light hit it's target and his body went rigid before collapsing against his victim. She preformed a brief, not fully successful, healing spell on her broken leg and pushed herself up from the floor, hobbling towards the grisly scene before her._

 _Tears began to spill from her eyes once more as she approached. Even from a few feet away, she could tell the girl was already gone. She made her way to the still breathing slumped form in front of her with every intention to finish the job, hate spilling into every fiber of her body. As she raised her wand to preform the Unforgivable Curse, a loud blast sounded just down the curve of the corridor, shaking the whole of the castle._

 _"FRED!" She heard Percy's familiar voice echo in the ensuing silence. Without though to her hate-filled task, or to the barely mended bone in her leg, Hermione barreled down the remainder of the corridor, coming to a halt at a pile of rubble that Percy and Ginny were furiously clawing at. She could she a shock of bright red hair under the pile. Falling to her knees Hermione aided in the pair's effort to uncover their fallen brother._ _In a manner of moments Fred's head and chest were uncovered, the ghost of a smile still on his face, his chest unmoving._

 _"ROOKWOOD!" Percy cried out again as he tore down the other side of the corridor, going after the fleeing figure._

 _"Hermione," Ginny whispered, stroking her brothers matted hair, "do something. Please!?" Hermione looked up to see tears streaming down the young girls face, panic marring her beautiful features._

 _She slid her body over to the still figure, taking his head from his sisters hands and laying it gently in her lap. She took a deep breath as the spell for the ritualistic magic poured into her brain._

 _With her wand pointed to his chest, and her free hand laid on his heart she began chanting._

 _"I bind your soul to me,_

 _From this day forward apart we shall never be._

 _Take what I freely give,_

 _Come back to me, choose to live._

 _I willingly send to you a piece of my soul,_

 _Share with me this damaging toll._

 _Let it's light guide yours back home,_

 _choose to avoid it and in darkness you shall forever roam._

 _I bind us together with this spell,_

 _to pull you from your deathly hell._

 _Together we shall share this illness,_

 _Now wake up from your deathly stillness._

 _I bind your soul to me,_

 _never apart shall we ever be."_

 _She repeated the spell twice, growing weaker with every word. At the end of the second chant, just before her world went dark, she heard his gasp for air._

When Hermione came to she was crouched on the stone floor, face pressed into her hands, the whispered remnants of the spell still fresh on her lips. She could feel a warm arm pull her up into a solidly muscled chest as a gentle soothing hand ran up and down her back.

"Come back, Love. Come back to me." Fred's voice whispered into her hair. She took a deep, shuddering breath and moved her hands from her face, placing them delicately on either side of his beating heart. "Where did you go there?" He asked quietly.

She took another shaky breath before she pulled back enough to look up into his concerned blue eyes. "I went back to the battle. I watched Lavendar sacrafice herself to save me again." She wouldn't tell him the rest of it. The tears were making it hard to speak, and as far as she knew, Ginny had never mentioned to him the magic she had preformed to save his life.

"Are you okay to be here? Or would you rather I took you back to the Burrow?" He asked softly, pulling her shaking form back into his warm chest.

She took a final calming breath, squared her shoulders, and stepped out of his hold, noticing an approving smile flit across his handsome face as she did. "I'm okay, this night is in remembrance of those we lost," She glanced back down to Lavendar's floating figure, "I will always honor her sacrafice." She stated the last part loud enough for the apparition to hear her, earning her a large grin from the ghost in return. "Thank you Lavendar Brown. You are a true hero and a true friend."

 **All I can say right now is Merlin's beard! I posted my first chapter of this story only 3 days ago and already I have almost 30 people following it! You people really know how to boost a lady's confidence! I am still in the planning stages for some of the later chapters so this story is still pretty fluid. If you have any ideas you maybe want me to try and work in, feel free to let me know.**

 **The end of this chapter made me feel a little like Dr. Seuss. I researched various different "magic" rituals to bind a dying soul before I wrote it, but when the time came I did NOT feel comfortable using any of them, so I broke out the handy dandy rhyming book and wrote one of my own. It's silly I know, but obviously it got the job done. FRED'S NOT DEAD!!**

 **On top of that, this chapter was hard for me to write because it changes how J.K. wrote it. That feels pretty blasphemous to me, but if I hadn't done it there would have been no story. So as always, let me know what you think. I love hearing from you guys!**


	5. Someone Should Have Burned That Book

**So I am going to take a moment for a bit of an explanation before we hop back in. One of my lovely readers asked why I had chosen Lavendar Brown, of all people, to be a hero in the last chapter. She was a horrible gossip, she craved attention, and she was awful to Hermione while her and Ron were dating, and that there are so many other people that are much braver than she is. Well Folks, that is the exact reason I picked her. J.K. wrote her to be a bump in Hermione and Ron's friendship, but she also placed her in Gryffindor for a reason. I kind of felt like after the breakup there wasn't much more of a character development for her until she came to her untimely end. I just wanted to delve a little deeper for the people, like me, that wanted a kind of closure to the character.** **So there's that. I hope that answered your question. Also, as a side note, I own none of these characters. Now, on we** **go!**

The Great Hall was lavishly decorated, much in the way it was for the Yule Ball. Gone were the four long house tables, the students that were not attending the Gala were taking dinner in their common rooms. They were replaced by a number of large, round dining tables. The circular tables were positioned on the edges of the room to leave space for dancing later, and to make way for the large stage that extended out from the platform that the teachers' table usually sat on. There was a podium situated at the end of the stage extension for those that were speaking during the memorial, and for people to stand at during the auction. She was pleased to see that the house elves set the room up to her exact specifications, not that she expected anything different.

"Hello, Hermione Granger." A dreamy voice came from Hermione's side, breaking her from her assessment of the room. She looked over and smiled at the younger witch. She was dressed in a floor length high-low lavender dress and black chucks, her radish earrings were dangling from her earlobes.

"Luna!" Hermione embraced her friend. "I didn't think you would be here tonight. I thought you were still chasing magical creatures in America with that magizoologist of yours."

"Oh, no. I came back a few days ago, Rolf and I broke up after we received our letter from the Ministry. He decided he was going to stay in America for good, and I couldn't leave daddy forever, so I came home. Have you decided what you are going to do yet?"

"What I am going to do with what, Luna?" She asked, confused by the abrupt turn of the conversation.

"If you are going to stay here, or disassociate with the British--"

"Hermione, there you are." Harry trotted up to them, cutting Luna off, a little out of breath. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Sorry, Harry. I was in the girl's lav."

"Well, they're ready for us in the antechamber, Ron is already there. Kingsley wants to go over the itinerary one last time so we don't have the same sort of fiasco as last year."

"Hello Harry Potter." Luna said to him brightly.

"Oh, hello there Luna, I didn't expext to see you here tonight. I'm really sorry, but I am going to have to steal Hermione away so we can get things rolling. It was great to see you. We'll catch up soon, yeah?"

She smiled and nodded and then turned on her heel and skipped away while he chuckled. "It's good to see somethings haven't changed." He grabbed Hermione's hand and gave a slight tug, "We really do have to go, come on."

They hurried to the front of the hall towards the antechamber, passing their designated table as they went. Hermione glanced over to see everyone sitting and talking. She noticed that Charlie had decided to floo in from Romania for the event, although he didn't look very happy for some reason. She smiled at the Weasley's they walked past, her eyes catching Fred's, a particular expression on his face.

 _You ok?_ She knew the question was there, almost as if he'd actually spoke the words in her head, she practically heard his voice. She rearranged her facial expression, hoping to convey her thoughts back.

 _A bit frazzled currently, but_ _I will be better when all of this is over. I just have to keep telling myself it's for a good cause._

She heard him chuckle lightly behind her as they took the stairs to the small room off of the Great Hall.

As soon as the duo walked through the door Kingsley clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention. "Okay, now that we are all here," He pointedly looked at Hermione. She gave him a sheepish grin in return. "I just want to go over everything before we begin. I am going to start by calling attention to everyone and make a call for a moment of silence and give my speech about the non-wizard additions to the memorial plaque, which we will then unveil. I will point out Dobby in particular for you, Harry."

"Thank you Minister."

Hermione felt a sudden feeling of fear, concern, and anger run through her. It wasn't anything anyone had said, she actually felt quite calm and safe in her current setting.

 _She was up there alone and that lunatic was that close._ She glanced around the room, no one was speaking, but she could have sworn she'd heard a voice whispering to her.

"And then we will start dinner as we debut all of the silent auction prizes. We will actually remember to feed our guests before the end of the night this year. After dinner the three of you," He pointed to Harry, Ron, and herself. She shook her head to clear it and diverted her attention back to the matter at hand. "will come up, Hermione you will talk about the profits going to the PGW Orphanage, and the three of you will start the date auction. After the auction, the dancing will begin, and before the end of the night I would like to take the podium once more to make a special announcement. Does that cover everything? Did I forget anything?"

"No Minister, I think that about sums it up." Hermione answered, the bizarre feeling pitting in her stomach. "It all sounds much more simple when we say it out loud."

"Ah, yes. Words always are much easier than actions. Now, if that's everything, we can all find our seats and get on with it."

 ** _One Hour Later_**

So far everything had gone great, Hermione mused to herself. Everyone enjoyed their meals, and there were only a few audible objections to adding the names of the magical creatures they lost during the war to the memorial when it was unveiled. The silent auction had raise an amenable amount and the date auction had raised even more.

Ginny spent a large portion of her Harpies salary winning a date with Harry, although Hermione was fairly sure Harry had given her the money to bid on him. Ron's date auction got caught up in a bidding war between 2 older women, only to eventually be won by Luna. Hermione's however, raised the most money, coming in at a whopping 2,278 Galleons. The bidding war between Mclaggen and Fred went on for nearly five minutes before Mclaggen finally backed down.

She danced with him in thanks for the first few slow dances, secretly relishing the sensation of his embrace. The feeling of his hands on her hips as they swayed together to the music left her tingly in places that made her blush to think about. George asked to cut in after a while. Then Teddy bounded up to them, complained that Fred was taking up too much of her attention, not realizing that the twins had switched places, and demanded that it was his turn to dance with her. After a few face paced dances with the energetic toddler, Hermione was wiped and she found herself seated at their table, bouncing a chatty toddler on her knee as she half-listened to Mr. Weasley and Mr. Lovegood talk.

"Arthur, did you notice all of the damage to the grove?"

"Yes, we were actually talking about that just before the start of the Gala. It wasn't just the grove though, all of the trees around the property were damaged. Some kind of animal." He glanced nervously over to Hermione, who was too worn out to put much thought into it.

"It must be mating season for the Erumpents." Xenophilius it waved off. It was funny though, Hermione knew that there were no wild Erumpents in Europe anymore. "It's a good thing your wards are strong, you wouldn't want to get in the middle of that."

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Kingsley had taken the podium to make the final announcements for the night. "If you could take your seats please."

He waited for everyone to amble off the dance floor and find their seats again. George sat close to her on one side, and Fred on the other, leaning over to pluck a yawning Teddy from her arms. She smiled over at him, silently thanking him for giving her arms a break.

"I am going to end tonight with an announcement, but first, a short history lesson, we are at Hogwarts afterall." That earned him a few brief laughs. "In the summer of 1687, after a plague of dragon pox wiped out a large number of the magical community in Europe, the Ministy commissioned a magical book to be made by a group of highly skilled wizards, goblins, and an oracle."

Hermione's gut tightened as a feeling of dread ran through her, she knew where he was going with this.

 _Oh Merlin, please no!_ She pleaded in her head. Fred must have caught on to the change in her body language because his attention snapped to her worried face before turning back to the platform.

"The Ministry still houses that book to this day, it is referred to as the Book of Life, and it can tell the reader anything they want to know about a person. When and where they would be born, how long they would live, when they would die, and most importantly to us tonight, who their soul would be bound to. Past, present, and future." Hermione glanced around the room, no one looked as nervous as she was. Luna had her signature dreamy expression on her face as she stared in Ron's general direction, and Charlie somehow managed to look even more angry than he had earlier, but everyone else just looked puzzled as the Minister pushed on with his speech.

"In 1688, the Minister of Magic enacted a law, known as The Marriage Law to try and rebuild the population of the magical community." He took a deep breath. It seemed to Hermione that even Kingsley himself wasn't fully convinced of his plan.

 _Then why do it!?_ _Someone should have burned that book long ago!_ She thought.

Fred glanced at her again, his eyebrows furrowed in concern and confusion. She shook her head feebly, staring directly ahead, she couldn't meet his eyes.

"It is the decision of the Ministry to reenact the Marriage Law of 1688, with some changes and updates of course." Startled gasps and murmmers of dissent rippled through the crowd. "We lost too much of the magical community in the war, and in the two years since it's end, their have been very few marriages, and even fewer births. The details of the law, as well as the Ministry appointed pairs will be arriving by post to each individual between the ages of 17 and 35 no later than tomorrow night. Thank you, and good night." Before his final words could even echo through the Great Hall, Kingsley spun on his heel and disapparated.

 _Coward._ Hermione thought as the people around her began asking questions in raised voices. She looked over to Fred finally. He was still holding Teddy, who was now sleeping peacefully despite the noise, but he looked more angry than Charlie. She could actually feel the anger rolling off of him in waves. Of all the people she would expect anger from, her go-with-the-flow fun-loving friend was the least likely.

"Fred," she place her hand gingerly against his arm "are you okay?" He only shook his head in response, not bothering to look at her, a hard expression on his face.

"Well I guess that takes the guesswork out of it." George said merrily from the other side of her, he was grinning broadly at the people around the table. "It'll be a right bit awkward though at first. And I already feel bad for the little bird that gets paired with Malfoy, right Freddie?" That last bit earned him a few weak laughs.

"Let's get you and Teddy home, Hermione." He looked at her, not even bothering to answer his twin. The pained look on his face twisted her heart, she much preferred his anger to this.

"It's okay, I can take him." She reached for Teddy, but Fred simply stood with the boy in his arms shifted him around, and offered his free hand to her.

"I've already got him, now let's get you both home." He didn't leave her any room for objection. She she nodded, stood, and took his offered hand, saying her goodbyes before they made their way back to McGonagall's office.

The line was small, and before she knew it they were back in her flat. Fred, having been to her flat a number of times, took Teddy directly to his room and laid the sleeping boy down, giving Hermione a few moments to remove her high heels and place them back in the small closet by her front door.

"We need to talk." He stated simply, leaning against her kitchen island, arms folded over his chest, hie expression flat and unreadable.

"Okay, let me make sure Teddy is settled in for the night and we can." He nodded once as she passed him and quietly walked into Teddy's room. His little eyes were open, but he was obviously fighting sleep.

"Auntie Mine, can you sing to me?" He asked, using his special name for her.

"Of course I can, little Teddy Bear." She crouched down, making sure he was tucked in under the covers, kissed his forehead and soothed his hair while she sang him a simple song.

"You and Uncle Freddie will be a good Mummy and Daddy, don't be worried Auntie Mine." He whispered before his eyelids settled down and his breathing evened out.

She smiled down at him, silently wishing his little dream for her to come true. When she was sure he was asleep she stood, casting a charm to warn her should he wake up in the middle of the night, and made her way to the door. Pausing briefly, she cast a silencing spell on the room so if her and Fred's talk included any yelling, knowing most of their 'talks' usually did, they wouldn't disturb him.

"Good night my Teddy Bear. Sweet Dreams." She whispered into the room as she turned and closed the door, it clicked softly. She did not notice the dark figure leaning against the wall in the hallway between his door and hers.

She turned back around to make her way to her bedroom, intending to change out of her dress before she joined Fred in the living area to talk. However, she barely took two steps before she ran into a hard body, strong arms snaking around her.

 **It's nearly 3 a.m. What kind of crazy writes a story at 3 a.m.!! Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American readers! Sorry for the delay in updates, Nintendo just released a phone version of Animal Crossing, and I have an addictive personality. Read, Review, and tell your friends, you know how it goes.**

 **P.S. Skip the next chapter if you want to avoid anything... adult and physical.**


	6. A Warning & An Author's Note

**_Warning: SKIP THE NEXT CHAPTER IF YOU DON'T WANNA READ SMUTTY SMUTNESS._**

 ** _Hey all. Sorry for the delay in updates. The next chapter is a love scene and my husband and I rowed for a few days over utterly nothing of consequence. Not only was it emotionally exhausting, but it is also hard to write a love scene when you want to smother the person that serves as your inspiration. When we got over it, It took me days to write, and it was super awkward the whole time. I am fairly sure someone could have lit a cigarette off my face. But yeah, TMI moment over._** ** _So without further adieu: SMUT!_**


	7. Why Isn't Hermione Wearing Any Pants?

**_WARNING AGAIN: There is a reason there is an M rating on this story. Leave now of you are underage or if you just don't want to read the physical stuff._**

His strong arms pulled her close as his head descended to hers, their soft lips brushing lightly. He slid his hands up the exposed skin on her back to the base of her neck, leaving a trail of goosebumps in his wake. Pulling the clip from her hair, he let her cascade of honey colured curls fall. He loved her hair, he always had. He caught her surprised gasp with his mouth as he tangled his long fingers into the silky strands.

Hermione stood like a statue at first, the initial shock of finding herself suddenly pressed to a toned body tightened her muscles in preparation for a fight. But when his fist closed in her curls, tugging gently, the electricity that buzzed through her had her body relaxing and melting into his. She dragged his face closer, her fingers weaving into his hair, she needing more than the simple press of lips he was giving her. An unfamiliar spark ignited in her stomach at the feel of his body hardening against her. Never had she felt like this while kissing someone. She smiled into the kiss, parting her lips slightly in consent when his tongue swiped across her bottom lip.

The moment their tongues collided, a wave of desire flowed through her body, pooling in her core and causing a small approving sound of pleasure to escape her. She felt him harden more, and just the thought that he could have this kind of response to her sent another wave of desire through her.

She moaned in pleasure, the sudden sound breaking through the haze of desire in her head. "Fred," She breathlessly whispered his name, pulling her face away from his and settling her small hands on his shoulders, pushing him back a step. Her chest rising and falling rapidly as she tried to catch her breath. "what are we doing?"

"Making our own decision. One last time, before the Ministry decides that they know what is best for us. This is my decision, Hermione. You are my decision, you always have been." Fred couldn't stop his hands if he'd wanted to, the draw of her satin smooth skin was too much for his control. "I have watched you from the moment I saw you on the train 9 years ago. It started out innocently, like an older brother watching out of a younger sibling, but somewhere along the way it transformed into something else."

"I always thought you only put up with me because of Ron." Hermione let out a small laugh and stepped into him to press her forehead against his briefly. "If I had known you fancied me all those years ago..." She trailed off, her head falling back to rest against the wall as she got lost in the feeling of his hands. He gently moved the strap of her dress down her shoulder so he could place a kiss there, the spark in her stomach grew into a full blaze.

"When did you know?" She asked quietly, giving in and letting her hands push his jacket from his shoulders. "I've had a crush on you for ages, but I can pinpoint the exact moment I realized it to watching you ask Angelina to the Yule Ball. I was so jealous, even though I already had a date." Her laugh turned into another moan of pleasure as his lips trailed up her neck and locked around her earlobe, his teeth tugging lightly. He took a step forward with her still in his arms, until the warm skin of her exposed upper back was pressed firmly into the cold hallway wall.

He leaned down and kissed her so soundly she knew she would remember it to her dying day. He chuckled lightly before pulling back and saying, "Do you remember the day we ran into eachother in the corridor during your third year, I believe it was?"

"We ran into eachother a lot that year. I was in two or more places at the same time more often than not. You'll have to be more specific Mr. Weasley." She said the last part with a grin, pulling his crisp white shirt until it came untucked from his trousers.

"You were coming down from the Divination room," He stated, bending his head to trail his lips on her hands as they undid the top button of his waistcoat. "You were angry over something Trelawney had said to you. I pulled you into the hidden corridor I was waiting for George in, you started yelling at me about skipping class, and you stormed off when I pointed out you were doing the same thing." She laughed with him, remembering that exact day.

"In my defense, you startled me and I was already on my way to an empty classroom so I could use my time turner to head to a different class."

"Well I know that now, but at the time no one knew you were taking so many subjects. But the look on your face had me wishing you were in that corridor with me to snog rather than yell."

She glanced over to Teddy's closed door, and then down at her partially removed dress. "Maybe we should take this into my bedroom?"

She looked up at him when she asked the question, his hooded eyes unabashedly full of stark desire sent another wave of pleasure through her. _At this rate I'm going to find my release multipul times before our clothes are even off_.

A quick smile passed across his face. "That sounds like a much better idea than taking you against the wall here." She flushed at his words. He leaned in, his hot breath brushing against the skin of her ear as he whispered, "I'll help you find your release as many times as you want if it means I can keep touching you. Clothing on, or off."

Her gasp of surprise at his response to her unvoiced thought was caught by his lips again as his mouth overtook hers. Mouths still locked together, Fred lifted her slight form in his arms and carried her down the short hall into her sparsly furnished bedroom.

When he unceremoniously tossed her onto the plush mattresses she threw her head back and laughed loudly, the pure joy of the moment making her happier than she had been since before the war started. When she got her laughter under control she laid back on her elbows, looking at his disheveled form standing over her. The lust displayed openly on his faced caused another rush of desire to snake through her. His eyes roamed her body possessively, leaving licks of heat everywhere they paused.

"Gods Hermione, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on."

"You obviously need to get out more, Fred Weasley." She giggled at him, the pleasure from his words made her normally logical brain go fuzzy again. She crooked her finger at him. "Are you going to stay up there all night, or are you going to join me?"

He smiled at her suggestively, quirking one eyebrow. Instead of responding he reached down and snagged her silk clad ankle. Lifting her leg so it was resting against his hip he said, "Now Miss Granger, you made me watch you parade around in a form-fitting dress and heels all night. Did you know that every time you sat down I got the most delicious view of your creamy skin over the top of your thigh-highs through the slit in your dress? George took the Mickey out of me when he realized why I kept adjusting my trousers."

Her giggle turned to a gasp and then a moan when bent and ran his hand up the inside of her leg, pushing her dress up as he did, until his lean fingers were brushing the exposed skin between the tops of her stockings and the bottom of her garter.

"Mmm," he groaned out in appreciation. "You're just as soft as I always imagined."

"Fantasy of yours, eh?" She managed to breathe out. He was driving her mad with need.

His hooded eyes flashed at her. "Everything you do is a fantasy of mine. I have probably thought of more than a dozen different ways to take you in a dozen different places." Hermione could feel the dampness growing at her core as he continued massaging little circles on her thigh.

She slid her hand over the top of his to stop his movements. "Fredrick Weasley, if you don't get me out of this dress now I am going to hex you into next week."

He chuckled as he straightened, holding eye contact with her as he bowed. "As the lady wishes."

He held his hand out for her. When she took it, he tugged her up roughly, causing her to misstep and fall into his waiting arms. He spun her quickly until her bum was rubbing against his center. With her in his arms he turned and pressed her forward, her hands flying out to keep her from running into the wall, just as he wanted. "Keep your hands against the wall, Hermione. Don't move them until I tell you to. Not one inch. Every time you move them, I will stop what I am going."

She breathed his name out again as his hands moved her hair to the side and his lips brushed her shoulder, his able fingers quickly undoing the clasp at the top of the zipper on her dress. The rush of cool air over her hot skin when he slowly undid the zipper had her groaning with impatience. She made a move to turn around, dropping her hands from the wall. Her need was driving her, telling her to force him to hurry. Fred's hand stilled at the small of her back, and she heard him take a step back.

"Put them back Hermione." He directed from behind her.

"You need to hurry Fred," She looked over her shoulder at him, letting him see the desperation in her eyes. "I'm burning up here. I can't take this much longer."

He just quirked that infuriating eyebrow at her again and made a circular motion with his finger, silently telling her to turn back around. She huffed out her indignation, but did as he wanted. He waited a bit before stepping towards her again, dragging the moment out as a sort of punishment she was sure. She sighed in relief when his fingers brushed her back again, and ground her teeth when she realized that he was unzipping her dress even slower than before. She felt a tug, and then another, but she didn't feel the fabric loosen any more from her body.

"Fred, get the damned thing off of me now! My skin is so sensitive the fabric is starting to hurt."

"I'm trying I promise." He laughed. "But the zipper is stuck."

Without moving her hands from the wall, she looked over her shoulder at him. Meeting his mischief filled eyes she glared at him. "Rip it off of me if you must." She turned back around as his lopsided grin answered her.

As soon as she turned to face the wall she felt his strong hands grip either side of the partially opened zipper. With a well muscled jerk, she heard the fabric give way, ripping to well past her bum. His hands landed in the defined arch of her back, one on either side of her spine. With deliberate slowness he moved his hands up her back, lightly grazing the black lace of her strapless bra. He moved all the way up to the silver straps on her shoulders and pushed the fabric down her bicep until it landed in the crook of her elbow, causing the dress to dip down.

"May I move them now?" She whispered, not trusting her voice.

"Not yet." She jumped at the voice in her ear, she hadn't realized how close he'd gotten.

He trailed his lips across both her shoulders, leaving her breathless. Tipping her neck to the side he kissed it, flicking his tongue out to swirl over her pluse as he did. She moaned deeply and pushed her arse back into him, grinding it across his impressive bulge, trying to urge him on. He groaned, his hands sliding between the fabric of the ruined dress and her body until he could grip her hips firmly. He pulled her back into him more securely, unsticking her hands from her bedroom wall.

She took this as permission to finally move. She dropped her arms, letting the sleeves of her dress slide down them. She sighed in relief as it pooled at her feet, leaving her in her undergarments only. A thought to be uncomfortable with that knowledge pressed to the front of her brain, but before she had a chance to act on it Fred's fingers moved down along her hip bone, stealing past the elastic of her knickers and chasing all thoughts from her brain.

"Off." Was all she managed, to say. _Keep touching me. Touch me there._ She thought, tilting her head back to lay it on his chest as he continued his ministrations on her body. Her breaths were coming out in heavy pants. When his finger trailed past her curls and sank into her dampness slipping his finger over the sensitive bud there. She cried his name out, a dam of pleasure bursting within her. Her knees went weak with the power of her sudden orgasm, she had never felt anything like it before it her life. _More._

" Don't worry. I am just getting started, Love. I told you I would get you off as many times as you'd let me."

She woke early the next morning, feeling deliciously sore in all the right places. Fred's warm body was pressed into her back, his arm casually thrown over her. She could feel his hot breath coming through her mass of hair, it tickled the back of her neck and she felt a spark of desire in the pit of her stomach come to life again. _There is no way. He got me off five times before I lost count, I can't want him again so soon can I?._ She felt him stir as he pressed against her, alerting her to the fact that not only was he already awake but so was his body.

He chuckled from behind her, "I would gladly go for round 2. And I believe the final count was 7."

"How do you do that?" She asked, rolling over to face him. "How do you always answer the questions in my head?"

He smiled at her, she could still see the sleep in his eyes. He touched his forehead with one finger and then touched hers. "I'm not sure how it works, but it has been like this ever since I woke up in St. Mungo's. I can hear you from time to time in here." He tapped his forehead again. "I knew it was you in there, I would know your voice anywhere."

She was taken back for a moment before she asked, "Does it only work for you when we are together, or have you tried it from further away?"

"I hear you even when you are not around, but it comes a lot easier when you are in the room. Are you saying you can't hear me?" If she didn't know better she would say that thought made him sad.

"No, I do. I do hear you. I am only just realizing it though. It was your voice I have been hearing these last two years. You are the one that has been helping me through roadblocks in my work and--"

Her discarded wand interrupted her, buzzing wildly and shooting periwinkle sparks into the dark room. She sat up suddenly, kicking her feet over the side of the bed. The sheet falling from her body as she did, she turned to see a startled Fred sitting up beside her. "Get Teddy and get to the floo now."

The desperation in her voice had him moving to pull his trousers on, shorts lost somewhere in the darkness. "What's going on?"

She paused briefly as she shimmied her underwear up her body, before looking around for her dress only to remember it was in pieces. She grabbed his shirt off the floor next to her and threw it on, buttoning it quickly. "Someone has just broken through my wards." She grabbed her wand off the floor and marched out of the room, fear gripping her stomach hard.

 _Where are you going?_

 _Get Teddy and get to your flat, now! He needs to be kept safe. I will be right behind you._

She stepped into her living area, wand raised, and paused to listen to the sounds around her. She could hear Fred moving into Teddy's room quietly answering the toddlers questions, trying to soothe him and keep him quiet at the same time. She could also hear scratching coming from the hallway just outside her door. Walking towards the front door, she heard the fire roar to life behind her and she let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. Her wand stopped buzzing, indicating the threat was moving away from her now.

 _They're safe._ She thought.

 _And sound. Now hurry up and get here I need to know you are safe too._ Came his response in her head. She smiled lightly, knowing it was going to take some getting used to.

Standing on her tippy toes, she looked out the small knothole. Gasping, she stepped back far enough to fling the door open, not caring that it crashed loudly into the wall.

 ** _I found you my Pretty_**

The words were sloppily carved into the wall opposite her door. Fear surged through her. Without closing the door she ran to the fireplace just as her wand started buzzing and shooting sparks again. The last thing she saw as the room spun out of view was the hulking form of Fenrir Grayback silhouetted in her doorway.

She stumbled out of the fireplace and directly into Fred's waiting arms. Dropping her head to his bare shoulder she let out a small sob.

"Fred?" Came George's voice from the hall. "What are you doing here and why isn't Hermione wearing any pants?"

 **Well that was a long chapter. Hope you enjoyed!**


	8. Secrets Don't Make Friends

Hermione sat on the twins' couch, a bouncy toddler next to her babbling away about the dream he'd had. She'd owled Andromeda to tell her that She and Teddy were safe, but that they'd had to flee her flat, and to meet her at the Burrow later that day. Fred and George were in the kitchen, whispering to each other while they made breakfast. Fred had been kind enough to give her a pair of his sweats to wear so she was no longer half-starkers.

She sat there staring into the fire, contemplating her next move as she worried her bottom lip between her teeth. _Don't think so hard, Love. You are safe here, and you are always welcome._ She looked up to see Fred staring at her while he mixed batter for the pancakes at the island.

She raised her eyebrow at him. _And what happens when your new bride-to-be has a problem with an old fling hanging around? Or did you forget that our letters will arrive no later than tonight_?

She saw anger pass over his features briefly, she could feel the emotion roll through her. _Of course I didn't forget._ A fissure of hope passed to her through their connection. _But what if we get paired with each other? What if the Ministry's magical know-it-all book puts you with me?_

She laughed humorlessly. _Nothing in my life works out the way I want it to._

He laughed lightly in return. _That's exactly what I said to George when he suggested it._

 _So he knows?_

He srugged. _I think it_ _was pretty obvious when we showed up and you were only wearing knickers and my shirt. Which by the way looks amazing on you, I think it's my new favorite._ She blushed at him

"Would you two please stop staring at each other like that. It freaks me out. You had better figure out a less creepy way to talk to each other in public like this." George had turned around from the stove, pointing his spatula between them. "People will think you've both gone full on barmy."

"He knows? How is it he knows when I've only just found out myself?" Having the twins in her life was always somewhat exasperating.

"I'm George, I know everything." He said, brandishing his spatula airily.

"I thought I was going mental when I woke up with your voice in my head." He explained. "I told George, and it took us weeks to figure out that we had somehow developed a mind-link during the battle. We even spent time in a library, researching, but we couldn't figure out what caused it."

 _The spell._ The sudden though struck Hermione so fast, she didn't have time to cover it before Fred caught it.

"What do you mean? What spell?"

 _Oh, Merlin._ "I have a love/hate relationship with this, this... bond." She dropped her head into her hands.

"Hermione..." Fred dragged her name out, a warning in his tone. _What spell?_

"The-- the spell... the spell I brought you back with." She whispered, voice cracking, and looked up at him with panic in her eyes. She hadn't told him how she'd brought him back, only that she'd healed him. She was terrified of how he would react when he found out that a piece of her soul lived within him.

"You made me into your own personal horcrux?" He dropped the bowl of batter to the counter. His voice was dripping with venom, anger and betrayal vibrated to her through their bond. George dropped his spatula and turned to glare at her too.

She gasped, shocked at the sudden onslaught of emotions coming from him. Next to her Teddy covered his ears and tucked his chin into his chest, eyes squeezed shut. She sighed, making up her mind to finally get it over with.

"George, take Teddy into the other room for me please, I don't want him to be here for this." She said calmly, picking the little boy up. She soothed him for a moment before handing him over to a still glaring George, and the two disappeared down the hall to the bedrooms.

She cast a silencing charm after them before finally meeting Fred's furious eyes. "I didn't turn you into a horcrux, I saved your life Fredrick Weasley."

"It sure sounds like it!" He yelled outloud, crossing his arms over his chest. Talking through the link was just too intimate when he felt so betrayed. He pulled himself from her mind completely, effectively cutting her off. She hadn't realized he was in there at all until he'd left, she'd grown that accustomed to his presence. His absence left her mind empty and her body cold. "You hid a piece of your soul in me! How does that make you any better than ol' Voldy himself!"

"That's not what happened at all!" She yelled back at him, her anger rising at being compared to the darkest known wizard. "You were dying! You don't know what I gave up for you!"

"That doesn't give you the right--"

"It gives me every right to save your life! You didn't see Ginny's face! She pleaded with me to save you!"

"Oh great!" He threw his hands up in exasperation. "Ginny knows!? My own sister helped you!"

"She was there you Dolt! She helped dig you out from under that bloody wall! She begged me to save you and I did the only thing I could think of." Angry tears blurred her vision.

"You turned me into a horcrux, Hermione! How is that saving me!?"

She dropped her face into her hands again, finally breaking eye contact with him, she deflated as the anger left her. "I didn't make you a horcrux, Fred." She whispered between her fingers. The tears that had welled in her eyes finally broke through, wrenching a sob from her throat.

"Then what did you do?" The sight of her sobbing calmed him a little. "If you didn't make me into a horcrux, what did you do?"

When she got her sobs under control she looked back up to him, she could still see the anger there, but his eyes held concern too. She didn't trust her voice not to break while she explained so she tried to use their bond instead.

"Let me in please, let me explain." She knew the exact moment that he did, and she didn't waste any time before she started.

 _You were dying, your soul had already left your body and I used a very old ritual spell to call it back. To create a horcrux one must commit murder to split their soul, and then they must conceal it in an object of their choosing. It is dark magic of the worst kind. The spell I used was nothing like that._

 _When you call a soul back it can never come back fully, it remains tied to the otherworld. As time goes on, their soul will slowly be pulled back into the beyond until that being fades completely. It leaves only the cold shell of a body, much the same way a dementor's kiss does_

She sighed out loud, their eyes were still locked together. He was angry, but at least he was listening. She let the tension that had built over the last two years slide out of her. She hated keeping secretes, and no matter the outcome, it felt good to finally get the weight of this one off of her chest.

 _The spell I used required a willing sacrafice, as all powerful magic does. I gave you a part of my soul to help fill your body, essentially breaking the tie the otherworld had on you. The spell is closer to the soul-bond that couples use during their wedding ceremony than it is to the horcrux spell. It was actually the spell that the soul-bond was based off of. So yes, a piece of me lives in you, I believe that is why our minds are connected, but you are not, nor will you ever be, a horcrux._

She watched his face as he mulled through the information. His eyebrows furrowed in concern before he replied. _If your soul is broken now because a piece of it lives in me, are you going to fade away?_ The feeling of his concern warmed her cold body.

 _No, I didn't almost die that night. My soul has never been to the otherworld, so it holds no power over me. If it had, the spell never would have worked. One of the unfortunate side effects of the spell though is that I share any injury you have. That's why I passed out after I preformed it, and that's why I constantly have these little bruises that appear at random. Your body was badly damaged, and to heal it enough for your soul to be able to come back to it my body had to take some of it away._

 _Hermione, you know I would never have asked you to do that for me. You broke your soul, that can never be fixed._

She shrugged nonchalantly. _I was willing to do anything to bring you back that night, if you had died my soul would have been shattered anyway, just in a different way. I needed you to stay_. She heard George laugh with Teddy from the other room and smiled sadly at him. _We all needed you to stay._

She felt warmth, and an emotion she didn't want to put a name to yet, trickle into her head. He walked to her slowly, giving her time to back away of she wanted.

 _I'm here. Thanks to you I'm here._ He pulled her into his arms when he reached her, and for a million known reasons, and a million unknown reasons, she buried her face in his neck and sobbed all of her emotions out. Fred waited patiently, rubbing her back comfortingly.

When Hermione's tears eventually dried, she sniffled and pulled back, wiping her swollen eyes with the sleeve of her borrowed shirt. With her eyes cast down she finally spoke.

"There is just one more thing with the spell that you need to know. I didn't learn this until I did more research about the base of the spell. Our lives are tied together a little more than I originally thought. Because a piece of my sould lives in you, if I were to die..."

"So would I?" He finished for her when he realized she wasn't going to.

She looked up, tears welling in her eyes again. "I'm so sorry!" She sobbed.

"Hermione, no. Don't. You saved me, I'm here because of you. It's a small price to pay, really. You split your soul for me. Besides, I'm not sure I would want to live without you in my life anyway."

"Is it all clear to come back in?" George asked from the hall. Teddy was smiling at her from his arms, giggling at George's new magenta hair, flashing his own from orange to magenta teasingly.

"Yeah, we are all good here Georgie." He smiled at his brother and sat a still sniffling Hermione back on the couch. "Lets get these hungry people fed so we can get to the Burrow. Mum will come snooping if we don't show our sunny faces soon."

"Are you two going to tell me what's going on?" He asked, setting Teddy in Hermione's lap.

"Maybe someday, when you're older" Fred responded walking back into the kitchen, earning a watery laugh from Hermione.

"Ok, but remember this," George said, looking between them. "Secrets don't make friends. Friends make secrets."


	9. Author's Note: Car Crashes & Polls

**_Hey everyone! Sorry I have been gone so long. I was involved in a pretty terrible car accident and have been in and out of hospital a bit._** ** _That being said, I am out, I am healing, and I am writing again! I had a plan for the next few chapters but now I am second guessing myself, so I wanted to get some feedback from you lot. so here goes._** ** _Spoiler Alert: Hermione is going to have a sister._** ** _What I want to know is if YOU think she should be dead, or alive?_** ** _PM me your thoughts. I won't post the next chapter until I have atleast 10 responses._**


	10. The Letters of Noone

After breakfast, and a short bath to calm a cranky and sticky Teddy, the small party stepped into the fireplace to floo to the Burrow. The twins stepped out first, the toddler hoisted on George's hip, to make sure the coast was clear so Hermione could sneak up to her and Ginny's room to change out of Fred's clothes.

"All clear, Herms." George whispered.

"But watch the second stair,"

"from the top of the landing,"

"It squeaks." She finished before they could, and smiled innocently at their baffled looks. "Do you know how many times I had to sneak out in the middle of the night to make plans with the boys the summer before we left? Your mother would never let us be alone in the same room together if you remember?"

"Our prim princess is actually a rule breaker Freddie. How do we feel about that?"

"We like that, Georgie. We like that a lot." Fred stressed the last word with a smile and a wink.

"George? Fred? Is that you boys?" Called Mrs. Weasley from the kitchen

 _You had better go before Mum comes out and sees you dressed in my trousers and shirt. She might very well pop her clogs._

"Eeep." Hermione squealed and darted up the stairs, leaving the boys to chuckle at her retreating form.

"Hello Teddy!" Mrs. Weasley beamed as she came from the kitchen, holding her hands out for the bouncy toddler. "Was that Hermione's voice I heard in here with you?"

"Yeah, she's just gone up to wake Gin." Fred responded shrugging a shoulder nonchalantly.

"Whatever was she doing at your flat?" She asked, a knowing look in her eye.

"She flooed over this morning with Teddy for breakfast. Didn't she mate?" George said, poking Teddy in his side. He giggled in response and went off about pancakes with bubble berry syrup being his favorite.

"Oh." Was all their mother said, an almost sad frown on her face. "Well since you lot have already eaten you can go and help your father set up for breakfast in the garden."

At that moment a red faced, now fully clothed, Hermione rushed down the stairs, panting somewhat. She glanced over at the boys, eyebrow raised in question, before hugging the family matriarch.

 _Everything is handled, she doesn't suspect a thing._ Fred's smile was quick.

 _Yes well we are going to have to talk about said thing soon. We didn't really get the chance this morning._ Fred looked slightly worried at her words.

"Hermione dear, did you hear me?" Hermione snapped her attention back to Mrs. Weasley, who looked a little affronted at being ignored.

"I'm so sorry Molly, I'm still a bit knackered. I didn't get much sleep last night and Teddy was up quite early this morning."

"Why didn't you get much sleep last night little Mione?" George asked a little too innocently, earning a subtle elbow in the ribs from his brother. Hermione blushed deeply.

"You know how the gala always stirs up memories one would rather forget. Makes it hard to sleep." She ground out between clenched teeth. _I am going to kill him_

"So you are saying you had a rather awful night?" He smirked at his still silent twin. "Like a nightmare really?" _A murder most foul. I'm smart enough to make it look like an accident too. Your partner act is about to become a one man show._ Fred visibly blanched.

"Mum, didn't you say Dad needed help in the garden? We really should be going if we are going to shoo the gnomes before breakfast is done. Come along George." Fred grabbed his beaming brother and practically dragged him through the kitchen and out the door muttering something about it being for his own good.

"Well that was a bit odd." Mrs. Weasley mused after her sons. "Were you able to wake Ginny? Do you know if she will be down soon?"

"I'm sorry?" Hermione looked at her confused.

"George said you went up to wake Ginny when you got here. Or maybe it was Fred that said that."

"Oh! Oh, yes. She threw a pillow at me and said she wasn't getting out of bed early on her day off. I thought it best to let her sleep. Harry and Ron were grumpy about it too, but they will be down soon." Hermione lied. She could tell that the woman didn't fully believe her. She hated lying, she had always been terrible at it. "I'm just going to go help the boys in the garden. Merlin only knows what mess they would get themselves into if they are left alone too long. Would you like me to take Teddy so you can finish breakfast?"

"No Dear, that's fine. I have managed to cook breakfast with a child on my hip for the better part of my life, I think I can manage."

"Oh yes, well. I. I uh, I had better get out there." She hurried from the room before Mrs. Weasley could ask anymore questions, leaving the woman to stare after her with the same bewildered expression she gave her sons.

Mrs. Weasley was about to make her way back into the kitchen when the fireplace roared to life again and out stepped Ginny and Harry. Ginny still in her golden gown from last night.

"Morning mum," She said leaning over to place a kiss on her and Teddy's cheeks. "morning little man. I'm just going to pop up and take a quick shower and then I will be down."

"And where have you been?" The older witch asked as she handed Teddy over to his godfather.

"Harry had guests over at Grimmuald last night after the gala. I told you I was going to stay over there with Ron before we left." Ginny looked concerned at the wide smile that suddenly spread across her mum's face.

"And where is Ron?"

"He'll be through in a bit Molly." Harry responded. "He celebrated with the firewhiskey a bit much last night and was still downing pepper up potion when we left."

"Right. Well, breakfast will be ready shortly. We are eating in the garden today. Gin, bathe quickly so you can help Hermione and the boys set up."

"Oh good Hermione is already here! I wanted to ask her a few things from last night but everyone left so quickly and I havn't had the chance to see her since then."

"Yes, well, off you pop darling." Mrs. Weasley said and started humming an uplifted tune as she practically skipped into the kitchen. Harry and Ginny shared confused looks.

"Well that was..." Harry started, trying to find the right words to describe what had just happened.

"Odd." Ginny finished for him.

Breakfast went smoothly, despite George trying to out Hermione and Fred any chance he could. A sullen Charlie apparated in just before the end of the meal, refusing to eat anything. Bill and Fleur joined them just before lunch, saying they couldn't miss out on witnessing the start of their younger siblings lives, making the whole mood of the Burrow drop a degreed. As the afternoon wore on the nerves of the young adults seemed to escalate, making them all a bit cranky and quick to unkind words, especially the still hung over Ron.

When Andromeda apparated in that evening it was to find one Mrs. Weasley bellowing at her children to go play quidditch and get out of her house before she turned them all into field mice.

She was quick to scoop Teddy up and after a brief word with Hermione, and the promise of a talk later. She assured Molly that she couldn't stay for dinner because Narcissa and Draco were coming over to introduce her to her new great nephew.

By dinner everyone was sat around the table, barely saying a word and pushing their food around on their plates. Except Fleur, she was animatedly talking to an enraptured Mrs. Weasley about Victorie.

 _Fred?_ Hermione asked tentatively, not bothering to look up from her still full plate.

 _It's going to be ok. No matter what happens Love, we will always have last night._ She felt a foot soothe up and down her leg from across the table.

 _Did you plan that? When you decided to escort me home, were you planning on seducing and taking advantage of me in my emotional state?_

He laughed out loud startling a few people with the sudden outburst. _I took advantage of you? I am not the one that suggested round two through four. During round three I thought you were going to rip the skin off my back. I am sure I have the claw marks to prove it. Not that I'm complaining._

"Something funny George?" Asked Mr. Weasley.

"Honestly, even with a missing ear they still can't tell us apart mate." George said to Fred before looking incredulously around the table. "And you call yourselves our family."

"Sorry George, What is so funny Fred?"

Before Fred could answer, with what Hermione was sure would be a well thought out lie, Ginny shrieked. Pointing at the sight of a tawny owl dropping from the sky. It swooped through the open window and dropped six official looking envelopes on the center of the table, narrowly missing the mashed parsnips.

Apprehension was thick in the room, no one made a move to pick the envelopes up. Everyone looking around as if to encourage someone to go first.

"Why are zere only zix letters?" Fleur finally broke the silence. "Zere are zeven of you 'ere zat are within age."

Molly leaned over and scooped the letters up, mouthing the names addressed on each one before looking up at Charlie with an eyebrow quirked.

"Charlie, there isn't an envelope here for you. I think the Minisrty sent yours to Romania. Did you tell them you would be going back early?"

"No mum, I got my letter two weeks ago." Gasps rang through the kitchen.

"And you chose to keep it a secret!?" If looks could kill, Hermione mused, Fred would have one less sibling.

"Yeah, it specifically asked me to in my letter. All of the UK registered witches and wizards that were living abroad got their letters early. We were given the ultimatum of coming back to 'fulfill our duty' or disassociate completely with the Ministry and be barred from entering the country again." All eyes were on him as dawning burst in Hermione's mind.

"That's what Luna ment last night!" Hermione exclaimed, all eyes shooting to her. "When I saw her she asked me if I had decided what I was going to do. She said her and Rolf Scamander broke up because she decided she didn't want to leave her father. I guess she's known for weeks who she was being forced to marry." Ron frowned heavily at her last statement.

"Well I don't know about you lot, but I need to know. I am tired of waiting, can I have my envelope Mum?" Ginny held out her hand impatiently.

"Hold on dear, Charlie hasn't told us who he's been matched with. I am assuming that since he is still here he has decided to accept the girl." Charlie looked uncomfortable and angry all over again.

 _Oh no._ Hermione thought. _They wouldn't do that to him!_ Curiosity flared at her through the bond, but she chose to ignore it, focusing her attention on Charlie.

"Charlie," She said, placing a soothing hand on his white-knuckled fist. "They need to know. It's not going to change how they feel about you. We all love you for who you are no matter what." He looked up at her, worry plainly in his eyes, before he took a deep breath and nodded.

"The person the ministry has paired me with," He looked at Hermione again and she squeezed his hand in reassurance. "is Draco Malfoy."

"What!?" Ron spat his drink out.

"Didn't he _just_ have a baby with Astoria Greengrass?" Harry asked.

"You're kidding!" The twins said together.

"Huh, that explains Malfoy's obsession with Harry all through Hogwarts." Everyone chuckled at Ginny's remark. When everyone sobered back up, smiles still on their faces, they turned back to Charlie.

"You accepted then?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"I signed my letter at the point of intent, I am not losing you all. Even if it means spilling all of my deepest, darkest secretes." He smiled begrudgingly around the table.

"Oh that skeleton was out of the closet years ago, mate." Bill said, waving a hand in dismissal.

"Yeah, we saw you coming out of the third floor broom closet your seventh year--" Fred started.

"With Barnibus Blackwood." George finished.

"And you're all ok with this?" He asked, still a little weary.

"I get to plan a wedding no matter who you marry. And I'll still be expecting grandchildren, No excuses."

"Thanks Mum, but like Harry said, he already has a son, he may not want anymore children. That's even if he agrees to this."

"Well, how will you know?" Hermione asked him. He looked over at her before fishing a worn and crinkled up piece of parchment from his pocket.

"At the bottom of the letter there is a place where you sign your name if you are willing to agree to the Ministry's terms. The name appears on your letter as well as your partner's." He unfolded it and handed it over to her. She scanned it smiling at up at him.

"He signed it too." She looked back down at the elegant script under Charlie's more blocky scrawl. "I think it is safe to say that you are officially engaged to one Mr. Malfoy."

"You're kidding!" He snatched the letter back from Hermione, eyes widening as he took in Draco's name under his own. He jumped up suddenly, his chair scraping across the floor and fled the room.

"You'll find him at Andromeda's, Dear. He's there with his mother and son." Mrs. Weasley called after him, laughing lightly to herself.

"Thanks Mum." They all heard from the other room as the floo roared to life.

"Well Freddie, I guess now we know what poor sod got saddled with Malfoy for the rest of their life. We dodged that bullet didn't we?" The whole table laughed at the recycled joke. Including Fred and Hermione this time.

"Right." Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat, drawing attention back to herself. The envelopes were still clutched in her hands. "Do we want to do this one at a time, or all at once?" The unanimous decision was all at once. So after distributing the letters around she sat back in her spot and Mr. Weasley counted to three.

The sound of parchment tearing and sudden gasps could be heard around the room. Fred got his letter open faster than Hermione, choosing to tear into it rather than breaking the wax seal as she did. The anger and sadness that bombarded her through the bond before she even had a chance to unfold hers let her know that it was in fact not her name written in his letter. Ginny squealed and threw herself into Harry's waiting arms, George laughed merrily, and Ron grinned from ear to ear. The only people that didn't seem to be happy were Hermione and Fred.

"Well obviously Gin and Harry got one another, how about the rest of you?" Mr. Weasley encouraged.

"Luna Lovegood." Ron's happiness radiated out of him. "And look, she's already signed. Does anyone have a quill handy?"

"I got Gabrielle Grunknick. That pretty blonde that was Head Girl the same time Charlie was Head Boy." George was beaming.

"Oh she was such a sweet girl." Mrs. Weasley smiled back at him.

"Mione? Fred? Who have you two got?" Ron asked, blowing on the fresh ink on his letter.

"No one." They said in unison.

 _What!?_ Fred's eyebrows disappeared into his fringe. Shock tinged with a little hope coursed through her.

 _My letter didn't pair me with anyone_.

"Either of you? Well what do they say?" Mr. Weasley asked. Hermione sighed.

"I'll read mine." She took a breath and cleared her throat. "To One Miss Hermione Jean Granger. Your presence is formally requested by the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt. Please be present at his office at 11 in the morning on Thrusday the Fourth of May in the year Two Thousand."

"Mine says the exact same thing, sans the name of course." All eyes were on them as silence fell in the kitchen.

"What did the two of you do?" Asked Mr. Weasley conspiratorially.

"You mean, what didn't they do?" George snickered waggling his eyebrows and shimmying suggestively at the pair.

"George!" Hermione and Fred exclaimed together. She blushed a deep crimson and dropped her face into her arms while Fred smacked his hand over his eyes in exhasperation.

Mrs. Weasley just laughed merrily, and beamed across the table at her bemused husband.

 ** _As promised. And Hey look! We are finally caught up to the teaser chapter on the time line! Took me long enough, I mean come on._**

 ** _Hope you all enjoyed it. It seems a bit longer than the other chapters, but that is just because of the dialogue. Let me know what you think. I am also still accepting opinions on the dead or alive situation._**


	11. In Libro Vitae

A loud bang woke Hermione. She gripped the silk sheet to her bare chest as she shot out of the bed and located her wand on the bedside table. She looked around the unfamiliar room trying to find the source of the noise, swallowing the fear that threatened to choke her.

 _It's ok Hermione._ "It's just George down in the workshop. He's upset about something, usually that's when he comes up with our best new products, and the most explosions." Fred chuckled but didn't even bother opening his eyes. "Can you come back to bed now? And bring the sheet back too, it's rather drafty all of a sudden."

She looked over to the bed, blushing a deep crimson when she saw he was laying starkers on the green sheets. Embarrassment washed through her, but she didn't look away. He was one fit man, and just looking at him in the soft morning light made her hungry for him all over again. Her eyes trailed over him, finally coming to rest on his center as she thought about how she had ended up in bed with Fred Weasley. Again.

Last night after everyone dispersed to go meet with their respective partners, or to bed in the married Weasley's cases, Hermione went out to the hill above the pond so she could try to lose herself in her work. Almost immediately Fred joined her, claiming that it was boring sitting in his family home without someone to cause mischief with. Hermione would have believed him if it wasn't for the bond. She could feel his apprehension and he kept his hand firmly gripped on his wand and his eyes constantly darting to the trees around the small clearing.

Sometime a little after three in the morning Fred convinced her that she needed to get some sleep, but suggested she stay at his flat so they didn't yet have to explain why she wasn't going back to hers. She knew she would have to tell the family about Greyback before too long, but she wanted to figure out what she was going to do about it first. The two of them apparated to Fred's flat a little before three-thirty. When five rolled around, and both of them were sweaty and physically exhausted, Fred pulled her into his chest and finally let her drift off.

 _Enjoying the view?_ Her eyes popped back up to his face. His eyes were open and he was grinning at her like a boy with a new toy.

 _Just remembering last night._ She licked her lips knowingly, and watched his eyes widen briefly before they grew darker with lust. _I think I may have enjoyed using my mouth on you more than you did._

 _I highly doubt that._ He crooked his finger at her, trying to encourage her to join him on the bed for a replay of last night. _You are wearing too much._ She laughed at him, joy sparkling in her eyes.

 _I'm wearing just as much as you are._

 _You're wearing a sheet, my sheet to be exact. It's blocking my great view, whereas you have a completely unobstructed view of all this._ He gestured up and down his exposed body. _It's hardly fair, and are you not all about what is equal and fair?_

 _Well then._ Before she could talk herself out of it she dropped the sheet, letting the silky fabric slide down her skin. _Better?_

 _The best. Now get over here._

 _I think I rather like the view from here, thank you very much._ He growled at her and patted the empty space next to him.

 _Hermione, come._

She lifted her chin in mock defiance. _I'm not a dog Frederick Weasley. Besides,_ she said with a seductive smile, _I do believe you've already made me do that a time or two._ _And a_ _s much as I would love to go again,_ she glanced over to the clock on his bedside, _we have less than an hour before we need to meet with Kingsley. I need to shower, and I know you do too._

 _We could save some time and water if we shower together._ Fred observed as he sat up in bed, the mischevious glint back in his blue eyes. Hermione laughed, but had to agree with his logic, well that and she liked that she would get to run her hands all over him.

 _You get the towels, I will start the shower._

Exactly 47 minutes late, the two strolled into the Minister's waiting area and up to the Secretary's desk. Hermione was surprised by the fact that she was perfectly happy being late for the appointment, but after everything Kingsley had done recently she couldn't bring herself to care that he had had to wait for them.

"Hermione Granger and Fred Weasley here to see Minister Shacklebolt. We had an 11 AM appointment." She grinned over to Fred when she said the last part, a little thrill ran through her. _It feels good to break the rules._

 _Why do you think George and I do it?_

"Miss Granger. Mr Weasley. The Minister will see you now." The old woman looked at them with disapproval as she gestured them to the office door.

Fred pushed through the door and held it open for Hermione, her smile slipped from her face as soon as she locked eyes with Kingsley. "Mr. Minister, so nice to see you."

Kingsley chuckled lightly and dropped his feet from his desk, motioning for the two young people to take the chairs across from him. "By the tone of your voice Miss Granger, I am sensing quite the opposite. And please, when have I ever been anyone other than Kingsley to you?"

"Sense whatever you like, Minister. Kingsley died to me when you decided to take away peoples right to make their own choices. My **_friend_** never would have done that." She sat down, crossed her arms, and sneered at him. "You, Minister, are no better than Voldemort himself."

"Hermione that's hardly fair, Kingsley is just--"

"It's ok Mr. Weasley, this is mild compared to what others have said, you should see the number of howlers we receive on the daily. Even one from your twin just this morning. I will say this however, your father and I were among the few that voted against enacting this archaic law. But it has worked in the past and you know how the Wizengamont likes their traditions." The glacier on Hermione's shoulder melted at his words.

"What can we do for you Kingsley?" She noticed then the large worn book on his desk. "If this has something to do with my spell work during the final battle, know that it was my choice and not Fred's. He is completely innocent."

 _Literally the worst liar in the world._ Fred rolled his eyes at her.

"That's not why I brought the two of you here, although now I am intrigued so we will come back to that later." Kingsley raised a questioning eyebrow at her before her continued on. "I know both of you are probably wondering why neither of you received the name of the person that is meant to be your soulmate."

"Is it because Hermione and I are soulmates and you wanted to tell us in person so you could congratulate us at the same time?" Fred perked up at the prospect.

"While that notion may have merit, unfortunately no." Fred deflated at his words, and Hermione could feel his disappointment mingle with her own.

"Thought not." He mumbled. "So then why bring us here?"

"Do the two of you know how people are selected to attend Hogwarts?"

"There is a magic book that has the names of every child that will become a witch or wizard in the headmaster's, or I guess now the headmistress's, office." Fred answered.

"Not quite," Hermione interjected before Kingsley had the chance. "There is an enchanted quill in an antechamber off of the headmistress's office. The quill detects new magic coming into the world at the birth of a child and writes his or her name in the book. It's the quill that holds the magic, not the book. I read that in _Hogwarts: A History._ "

 _Little know-it-all bookworm._ His words were warm in her head. Never in her life had anyone called her a know-it-all with so much... affection.

"Exactly, but many did not know that fact until after Bathilda published her book. The Minister of Magic at the time the Book of Life was written was just as ill informed as you were Mr. Weasley. Like I said at the Gala two nights ago, because of the plague of Dragon Pox that tore through Europe the Minister brought together a group of magical beings to create the book. He included an Oracle to imbibe the book with divinative properties, and in over three hundred years it was never wrong. Dates of birth and death, partners, and children, all correct."

"While the history lesson is facinating, really, what does that have to do with us?" Hermione asked, rolling her eyes at his faith in a stupid book that bas based off of an even more ridiculous branch of magic.

"Well Miss Granger, this book," He pointed to the worn book on his desk. " _In Libro Vitae,_ quite literally translates as the book of life. It was based off of the misconception of the book of names at Hogwarts. It's different in that it can only be read after a vote is taken and a spell is spoken, and it tells us _all_ about the witch or wizard we ask it to, not just the name. However, in your and Mr. Weasley's case it quite literally has nothing in the soulmate section for either of you."

Divination was never an exact magic. Everyone knew that. She herself had mocked it on a number of occasions, calling it a worthless subject. So why had the Minister's words shocked her so much?

Her hand shot to the seat next to hers, fingers gripping the tall redhead's for comfort. Taking a deep breath, letting the logical part of her mind smother down her emotions, she turned her head back to Kingsley. "What do you mean the book has no partner for either of us?"

She knew that she could be difficult, Ron had said so on many occasions. She also knew that Fred liked to play the field, but she didn't think it was so bad that it meant they were both supposed to be alone forever.

Kingsley placed his folded hands on top of the very worn leather bound book and replied, "I am sorry Miss Granger, but the book has no match for you because you..." He glanced at her companion, "and you, were both supposed to die at the battle of Hogwarts m, and Miss Lavendar Brown was supposed to live. In over three hundred years the book was not wrong once, but in the course of a single night there were no less than three errors. Now Miss Granger, I believe you said something about a spell during the final battle? I think now would be the time to discuss that little detail that was left out of your debriefing."


	12. More To Do With Family Magic

**So the polls are in, have been for awhile actually. Thank you to everyone that messaged and reviewed their thoughts, I loved hearing from all of you! And the results are as follows:**

 **Just kidding, that would ruin the plot. As always, I only own the characters I make up, the rest belong to the one and only J.K. Rowling.** **The chapters are going to be a bit shorter from here on out and I am going to be jumping about on timelines and around the world, so bear with me. It can sometimes be hard to keep my thoughts on one plot when all of my ideas are mucking about in my head, I almost wish I had a beta so they could catch all the stuff I screw up or miss. Anyway, off we pop!**

Hermione and Fred took their time explaining the bits they left out of their debriefing after the battle. All except their mental link, they wanted as few to know about that as possible. Kingsley seemed shocked and angry at Hermione's complete disregard for her own safety, but agreed with her that the spell was in fact not dark magic, just very ancient.

"I'm not even sure how you came across this ritual magic Hermione. Ancient magic like this was almost never written, instead it was passed from witch to witch within a coven. When covens died out centuries ago so did most of their magic." He sighed and scrubbed his face with his hand before giving her his most practiced Auror face. He used it regularly to intimidate other world leaders and dark wizards before that, and often it worked, but it just made the little witch in front of him roll her eyes and cross her arms in indignation.

"Moreover I am deeply impressed that you lived through its casting. Ancient covens consisted of 13, and all of their spells relied on the joint casting of the coven as a whole. I know of a coven that tried to cast a similar spell with only 10 members present and the magic was so powerful that it literally burned the witches from the inside out. You preformed magic that should have been impossible for a single witch."

"But not a single Wizard." Fred said jokingly, trying to relieve the tension that had built in the room.

"Incorrect Mr. Weasley. Had a wizard tried to preform coven magic, even in a group of 13, he would suffer the same fate as the 10. Coven magic could not, and still cannot, be wielded by a male."

"Where exactly did you find that spell Hermione?" Fred asked, turning to face her with a shell shocked expression. _You amaze me more and more each day._

Not letting her discomfort show she replied. "It was in a book from my mother, it was passed down from generation to generation within her family. My father gave it to my parents to give to me on my 17th birthday."

"Hermione, your parents are muggles." Fred pointed out, missing the important part of her statement. When she remained quiet he looked to the Minister for backup. Kingsley held his hands up in mock surrender and shook his head, it was not his secret to tell.

"No, my _adoptive_ parents were muggles. My biological parents were magical. The book was waiting for me on my bedside table the day I woke up on my 17th birthday. Well, it's a grimoire, not exactly a book. Generations of witches developed spells, rituals, and potions for it."

"That book is a treasure beyond measure Miss Granger. Grimoires crumble to dust when their last coven member fails to produce a female heir before her death. It was thought that all of them were gone. It may be the only insight modern magic has into the magics of old. May I request the pleasure of viewing it? Which witch was the origional owner of your family grimoire?"

"No, I do apologize Kingsley, but you may not. The letter that came with the book explained that my family's magic was not to be shared. You are right in the sense that it is very powerful and could easily be twisted into something dark in the wrong hands. It is not something I am willing to risk. Especially given how easily this Ministry fell into the hands of a dark wizard."

Kingsley deflated but nodded at her, understanding her reason completely didn't squelch his disappointment however. "Is there anything more that I need to know? And don't think I didn't notice that you did not answer my last question."

Hermione smirked at him slightly, for all that could be said about their current Minister, he was not a dumb man. "I don't believe so sir."

"Very well. The two of you may go." As the pair rose from their seats and turned to leave he added. "I would highly suggest coming up with a story as to why neither of you are matched. You both know the fuss that Molly will put up if she were to ever discover the truth."

Fred visibly blanched at the thought of his mother learning about his death and consequent resurrection. He would never find a moments peace again with the way the witch worried.

"Oh, and Miss Granger would you be willing to come to the Ministry tomorrow morning? We have a new intern exchange coming in tomorrow from America and she will need someone to be her guide. I would have someone else but there is a large international meeting being held here and nearly everyone will be busy. Seeing as how you are technically on the Ministry's payroll I thought you would be able to help, and the girl is your age so you can show her things us elderly would likely forget. Plus, you always were very welcoming to those from other countries."

"Only if Fred agrees to help. I was muggle raised sir, I know less about magical Britian than any proper guide should." _Plus it would give us an excuse to continue being around one another._

"Would you be okay with that Mr. Weasley?" Kingsley asked, quirking a knowing eyebrow.

"We were planning on having the shop closed tomorrow anyway with the Alignment parties tonight and tomorrow. Might as well be of use to someone." He grinned down at the witch next to him.

"Oh good. That's settled then. She will be flooing here around nine in the morning. You can meet her in my waiting area. I will say that the woman you are meeting is a MACUSA intern named Briar Picquery and is the Granddaughter of former President of MACUSA, Seraphina Picquery. So please, try to be on your best behaviour Mr. Weasley. It would be a poor idea to scare her away with your usual antics."

The pair nodded and left the room, leaving a befuddled Minister in their wake. He looked over to the portrait on his wall, "This day has taken a very unexpected turn for me. I would like to be a fly on the wall tomorrow to see the unruffleable Miss Granger absolutely ruffled."

"I do hear that Briar Picquery is a force to be reckoned with. Do you think Miss Granger will be a match for her?"

Kingsley laughed heartily. "More than anyone."


	13. Like Looking Into A Very American Mirror

Hermione woke with a start the next morning, the spring sun glaring into the window. She looked over to the waterfall of white blonde hair in Ginny's bed before remembering where she was. It felt different waking up alone after two days of waking up in Fred Weasley's warm arms, and not a good different. Hermione groaned when she looked over at the clock, she had overslept her alarm and needed to be at the Ministry to meet Madam Picquery's granddaughter in less than 30 minutes.

She plopped back into the mattress with a huff, why had she volunteered to do this? Oh right, she was a glutton for punishment. She always volunteered to do anything anyone asked her regardless of if she actually wanted to, it was expected of her. It did help that she would get more time with Fred without everyone getting suspicious. Silver lining she guessed. She huffed again before begrudgingly rising from the bed, grabbed some jeans, a jumper, and undergarments, and made her way to the bathroom.

As she brushed her teeth she thought about the night before, and how she had ended up in her own bed at the Burrow instead of in Fred Weasley's bed like had been originally planned. She smiled almost wickedly at her sleep mussed image in the mirror. Fred was going to need a very strong hangover potion. George too for that matter. Poor Georgie and his broken heart apparently meant that the boys had the right to get well and properly pissed at the Weasley's Alignment party.

 _Fred slid up behind Hermione at the drink cart, trying, and failing, to be stealthy. She heard his muffled snickering and decided to humour him. She turned and let out a fake surprised gasp and a mischevious grin lit his handsome face_ _in response._

 _"Do you want to know why George was blowing up the whole of the shop this morning? And why he sent the Minister a howler?" His eyes sparkled in the waning light as night started to descend on the party._

 _"Why Fred Weasley, you are such a gossip! You and Pravarti Patil would make a fantastic couple."_

 _He looked utterly scandalized. "I could never be with another twin, could you imagine the magical implications if we had children! 2 multiplied by 2 is 4 Miss Granger. And besides, the woman never stops talking, it's a common trait in reporters"_

 _She laughed hard at the look on his face as she imagined four little Fred's running amuck along the Devon countryside. Wiping away the tears that escaped her eyes after she calmed, she smiled at his stupid goofy grin and emotion filled eyes. "Why was your brother trying to bring the shop down around us this morning, you woeful gossip?"_

 _"The girl the Ministry paired him with decided to leave the country. She didn't want him. Said she couldn't handle someone else making her decisions for her. She left for America this morning, that's why our Ministry is getting Briar Picquery, it's an exchange!" He stage whispered._

 _"Oi! I heard that you sneaky prat! I told you that in confidence!" George stumbled towards them mocking anger at his twin fairly unsuccessfully. They were both already pretty pissed, and the party was still getting started._

 _"Oh George, I am so sorry." Hermione said in concern, but the tall redhead just waved her sympathy off. "Maybe this new American girl will be just your type!"_

 _"Ever the optimist isn't she Georgie. It's why I love her so."_ _Hermione was shocked at his words, did Fred love her? No, she thought, atleast no differently than any of the other Weasley's do. The only reason he was sleeping with her was because it took less effort than courting a girl that might turn him down. She covered the awkwardness with a loud nervous laugh as Fred draped his arm across her shoulders. "She's the perfect witch. Smart, sexy, and one hell of a kisser."_

 _"I will admit she is smart and lush, I just would never be able to handle the bossy. Or the fact that the witch doesn't like quidditch."_

 _"Guys, you realize that I am still standing right here."_

 _"Now give me a sporty, go-with-the-flow witch in Hermione's body and I would be the happiest bloke alive."_

 _"Honestly, I can hear you drunk gits."_

 _"Don't worry Mione, you are so sloshed you wont remember any of this in the morning." Fred patted her shoulder comfortingly._

 _"This is my first drink." She smirked holding up her full glass_.

She smiled at the memory of the boys shocked expressions before stumbling away, clutching each other and laughing hysterically. She couldn't wait to see if Fred remembered that conversation. She had met up with him later that night and the man could barely stand. George was already passed out on the Weasley's family room couch snoring loudly. She had told him that he needed to get his brother home and that she needed to get to work, so he might as well turn in too. It was the most important night of her research thus far, and she would be up until dawn broke, but one of them needed some sleep. He agreed only after she promised to take someone with her up the hill.

Poor Luna was the only one sober enough to still be properly standing at that point, so she coerced her into a sort of assistant position for the remainder of the night. The younger girl fell asleep on the hill just before dawn, curled up like a sleepy kitten. Hermione had levitated her into bed after she cleaned up her research.

Taking a deep breath and running her fingers through her wild curls to try and tame them, Hermione decided that would be about as good as she was going to get in the short time she had. With a regretful glance at the shower she dressed quickly and left the bathroom.

Rushing to the fire place she looked at the snoring heaps around the room. Harry and Ginny were passed out on the floor by the couch, Ginny using Harry as a mattress and drooling on his shirt. Ron looked like he slept in the last place he fell down not too far from the fireplace, and Draco Malfoy was wrapped in Charlie's arms, both asleep on a magically widened couch.

She thought about trying to wake them before she left so they could all move up to bedrooms, but a hasty glance at the clock on the wall told her she had less than 10 minutes to be at the Ministry. That and she could hear Molly shuffling in the kitchen as she hummed along to a song on her radio, no doubt by the smell she was brewing a large cauldron of hangover potion.

Hermione made her way through the maze of fallen bodies and to the fire place before she was stopped by a voice from the kitchen. "Hermione dear, don't forget we are having family lunch today in the garden. Bring the twins and your new friend with you."

She smiled and grabbed a hand full of green powder, "I will be here with the boys Molly. I'll ask Miss Picquery if she would like to come or settle in before she meets the rest of my crazy family." She stepped into the fire and threw the powder down. As the fire roared and she started to spin away she caught a glimpse of four bodies jumpping up, wands at the ready, and one poor redheaded girl rubbing her sore bum and glaring daggers at the messy haired man standing above her.

Hermione was laughing at the image as she stepped out of the fireplace at the ministry. She still had an amused grin on her face as she pushed the door open to the Minister's waiting area. That was until she caught sight of Fred Weasley with his face locked onto someone else's.

 _What in the bloody hell is going on here Frederick Gideon Weasley!_ She screeched at him through the bond, sending a rush of anger with it.

There was a definite 'pop' as the two broke apart. "Well if that's how a girl always gets greeted in this country, I think I might stay."

Fred looked over at Hermione, shock and confusion plainly on his face before stepping towards her, "Hermione, I... Fuck!"

Hermione took a step back before freezing in shock herself as the girl stepped around Fred and made her way towards her. "Hey there, you must be Hermione Granger. I've been looking forward to meeting you again. I say it's been about 20ish years since the last time we saw each other. I'm Briar Picquery." The girl extended her hand out and waited for Hermione to shake it.

Hermione just stared at it, she couldn't breathe. looking the girl up and down, her brain was spinning. It was like looking into a mirror. A very American mirror.

 **So there we have it folks! We have a sister! An alive sister, who is also a twin sister, and very American! This is going to be so much fun!**

 **Let me know what you think.**


	14. Stay tuned

I'm still here, and I am still writing. My job gets a little crazy this time of year though, so finding time to write is few and far between. More is coming, I promise. And just to prove it, I wanted to give all of you just a little sneak peek of what is to come. Can you guess where I am going with this?

I hope you enjoy this and it helps to keep you interested!

"From a grimy shop window a man watched as the girls passed by, too engrossed in their conversation to see the tears dripping from his silvery eyes. He placed a hand on the thin glass separating them. That was all that was keeping him from being with his beautiful granddaughters once more. One he had not seen since the end of the war, the other he had not seen since the day he laid his wife and daughter to rest.

Handing them over to their father was one of the hardest things he had ever done. It tore his heart out, watching as the last living members of his family disappeared behind the wooden door of the house in Godric's Hollow."


	15. So I'm back!

Welcome Home to me! I'm officially back from my travels, and oh my good golly gosh things have changed on here! All of my unpublished chapters are gone and that stinks, but we'll push through. I am going to take a few days to enjoy with my family and then I will pop right back in to the story! There should be a brand new, juicy, drama filled chapter up for y'all to read next week! Raise your hand if you squealed with delight! And again, thank you all for standing by while I did the whole adulting thing, your continued support means the world to me.


	16. Polyjuice and Picquery

Hermione's shock wore off quickly, pushing the girl's hand away, she snatched her wand from her pocket and pointed it directly at the imposter before her.

"Who in the hell are you!?" Her voice was pitched so low, it came out as more of a growl. Something she had picked up from being around Bill all these years.

Briar took a step back, glancing over her shoulder at the handsome redheaded man standing behind her, before turning back to her sister, raising her hands in surrender.

"Hermione, Love. I honestly thought she was you. I mean look at her, she is your exact duplicate. You know, except the voice, and the shorter hair, and the weird way she is wearing the British flag on various articles of clothing, and the way she snogs..." Fred trailed off at the fury coursing at him through the bond.

 _Fred, what in the bloody hell is going on here? I leave you alone for one night and you go and find yourself another girl to keep your bed warm? And then have the audacity to give her polyjuice to make her look just like me? Is that how you get your kicks?_

 _Hermione, I just met her 2 minutes ago, I though she was you, I--_

"That's enough of your lies Fred Weasley!" Hermione cut off his mental communication. Slamming a door shut in her mind to kick him out.

"As I said before, my name is Briar Picquery, not Fred Weasley. You know Kingsley told me that you were supposed to be a very smart girl, but as of yet I'm not seeing it." She smirked at that last bit, obviously trying to diffuse some of the tension.

"Excuse me? Exactly who do you think you are?"

"I just told you who I am."

"And you expect me to believe that you," Hermione twirled her wand to indicate the whole of the witch standing before her, "are the granddaughter of the President of MACUSA? And--"

"Former." Briar interrupted her, dropping her hands to her sides, it was getting tiresome holding them in the air that way. She honestly didn't believe the witch was going to attack her anymore.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm the _adopted_ granddaughter of the _former_ president of MACUSA." Briar shot back, emphasizing the words adopted and former. "But by all means, continue to threaten me with your wand. I can safely say I much preferred his greeting to yours." She finished by pointing her thumb over her shoulder at the man stuck stock still behind her. She smiled when she heard his frustrated groan.

"And how do you explain..." Hermione trailed off trying to find the right words, but came up with nothing. "All this?" She finished with another flourish of her wand.

Briar signed heavily, it was obvious that Shacklebolt had not prepared her for this, as she had asked him to do. She was going to strangle the man the next time she saw him, Minister or no.

"I'm going to try this one more time, but it would be a little easier if you were not pointing your wand at me. I've heard stories about what you can do with that thing. Destroying dark wizards and prejudices against house elves alike."

Behind her Fred chuckled. "Hermione, give the girl a chance to explain. Didn't you tell me just yesterday that you were adopted? How much do you know about your biological family? For all you know she could be your long lost cousin, or rather, sister..." Fred trailed off at the withering look she gave him. _If looks could kill..._

 _If looks could kill you wouldn't currently have a penis Mr. Weasley._ She responded to him, giving the girl across from her the same look, before huffing and dropping her wand. She didn't put it away, an action that did not skip the notice of the other girl.

"Thank you." Hermione heard a slight drawl to the girl's words, something she had come to recognize as a thing people from the Southern part of the United States had. It wasn't as pronounced as many she had run into during her travels, but it was there all the same. "Now, as I said before, my name is Briar Picquery, I was adopted by Aurora Picquery from the International Wizard Adoption Agency when I was a little over two years old. From what little I can gather from the papers I found in my Mama's things, I was born here in England and adopted out when my mother died and my father was deemed unfit to parent, whatever that means."

"And exactly why should we believe you? How do I know you are not some person here to kill me, that has taken a slightly modified version of the polyjuice potion? Because believe me, you would not be the only person in the last few days to come after me." _Fred, this could be a setup. Greyback has unrestricted access to my apartment. He could easily have taken hair from there to trick us into thinking this girl was my family._

 _I don't believe it is. You know the wards in this room make it impossible for someone to disguise themselves here. Just like the waterfall in Gringotts you lot told us about._

"Honestly, I don't know. But I have known Kingsley Shacklebolt since I was about 16 years old, he was the Auror assigned to my mama and I when we came to visit the former Minister to discuss sending some of our trained wizards over to help you fight your war. They seemed to like each other and kept in touch over the years, until my mother passed away late last year."

"So Kingsley knows about you, and just failed to mention to me that my American doppelganger was coming to visit when he told me to come and collect you yesterday?"

"Sister. I'm your twin sister Hermione. Well, your twin little sister, but only by 7 minutes."

"That would technically make you a day--"

"Younger than you? Yes, I know. But I like it better to say 7 minutes younger, it just sounds better to me. And would you have come if he told you who I was to you?"

"You say that Kingsley knows all about this, how about we go and see if that is true." _I still have not forgiven you Weasley, but we will talk about this later. For now help me escort her to the meeting chambers to have a bit of a chat with our dear friend._

 _Right behind you love, one of my favorite places to be._ He winked at her, causing her to roll her eyes at him before turing on her heel and marching away.

"Bit of a handfull that one is." He said as he walked past Briar, indicating her to follow him. "But she doesn't like to be kept waiting so come along. You are already in enough trouble with her as is."

Briar shook her head in exasperation before trailing after the two. _Well that could have gone better._

 **Hello Friends! It's been awhile. So long, infact, I had to go back and reread my story just to figure out where I was in it. Something that reminded me just how much I need a Beta. Does anyone know how to get one of those? Anyway, how'd we do? It was another of those more informative chapters, but like the others we couldn't have progressed without it. So there we have it. Let me know what you think and I will try to have another up soon, with more shocking information, and soon enough the reactions of the Weasley Clan to Hermione's big news!**


	17. Words Are Hard

Hermione stepped through the green flames at the Ministry still in a bit of a stupor. Walking out of the fireplace and through to the main room of the Leaky Cauldron, she found an empty booth, only giving a half-hearted wave to Tom as she did. She didn't care if Briar or Fred followed, she still couldn't believe the insanity that had transpired over the last, she glanced up at the time piece on the wall, forty-five minutes! It had only taken forty-five minutes to shake her entire life up!

After she had "so-rudely-interrupted" (or so the Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic had stated) the meeting for the International Confederation of Witches and Wizards, to practically drag the Minister out by his ear, she listened intently as he confirmed everything that Briar had said. When she asked who their biological parents were he said he did not know, that not even the book could tell him. Instead he had suggested that she talk with her parents to get more information on her adoption before excusing himself to rejoin his very important meeting. Leaving Hermione to wander back to the floo network.

She shook her head at the idea and dropped it into her hands as the tears threatened to spill over. She couldn't just go and talk to her parents, they still didn't even know they had a daughter. She had tried, tried to bring them back. But after she had obliviated the Death Eaters in the cafe the night of Bill and Fleur's wedding, their memories pushed her parent's memories right out of her wand. She knew it would happen, but also knew it was a sacrifice she had to make. Ron was right when he said she was the best at spells, neither he nor Harry had ever modified a memory before and they couldn't risk it being unsuccessful. What else could she have done?

 _You could have told them, you could have told them what it would cost you. I'm sure they would have understood and found another way._

She sobbed harder at the truth in his words. _There was no time to find another solution._

The cushion next to her dipped as warm arms came around her, pulling her head onto a hard chest. She took a deep calming breath, bringing in Fred's comforting smell and promptly lost it. She began sobbing and shaking uncontrollably, letting out all of the pain and frustration of losing her parents, just days after finding out they were not actually _her_ parents.

 _They were, and always will be your parents Hermione. They raised you to be the strong, independent, stubborn, and so very intelligent woman that you are now. Genetics is only part of it._

She let out the pain of coming to the decision to let them go forever that night in the cafe. She sobbed out all the pain of the encounter in Malfoy Mannor, and losing friends and loved ones the night of the battle. She let it all out, and towards the end of her breakdown decided to let go of all the things that had been building since the start of the war.

 _Fred?_

 _I'm here, Love. I will be here for as long as you let me._

 _I'm done letting the pain control me. I'm ready to fight back, to make it right again._

 _I'll be here with you every step of the way if you want me._

Fred felt her pain, sorrow, and frustration through their bond. He felt her fall apart, the pieces scattering as so many thoughts ran through her mind in a scrambled stream of consciousness. He didn't really even know if she could make sense of them, she was moving from one thought to the next so fast it was making _his_ head spin. Eventually he had to just be content to hold her, coming to the conclusion that he would help her hold all of those broken pieces together, because she broke herself for him two years ago, and it was the least he could do. When he felt her start to bring those pieces back together again, in a different order, but still a part of the whole, he marveled at her determination and strength of mind.

 _You absolutely amaze me._

 _Ditto._

He smiled over to Briar as she sat down across from them with three tumblers of Odgen's, sliding two of them over to them. "If I had known she would react like this, I think I would have stayed away." She downed her glass and held it up, indicating to Tom that she was ready for another.

Fred heard the pain in Briar's voice, and felt Hermione's apprehension and need to make it better, but knew she wouldn't say anything until she had her emotions back under control. She hated to seem weak, even if she was currently bawling in front of the girl. _Otters, you are silly little creatures._

Hermione sniffled and chuckled into his chest. _And yet you sly foxes always seem to be there to join in on the fun._

"I'm not upset at you Briar, it's a little amazing actually, I've been dreaming of a family for the last few years. Up until this morning I didn't have one."

 _Well that is a flat out lie, you have always had us._

Hermione looked over at him, he didn't seem upset with her but she wanted to pacify him all the same.

You know what I mean, a proper family. One that is biologically mine. Your family will always hold a very special place to me. They just are not..." She trailed off, not knowing fully how to put her feelings into words. _That seems to be happening to me a lot today_.

 _They are not yours, fully. I get what you mean. I know you think that you might eventually lose us, but know there is no way that could ever happen. I think mum may love you more than us half the time._

Hermione laughed out loud, wiping the last of her tears away. "I doubt that's true."

"You know, it's sort of creepy the way the two of you do that." Briar was looking at them as if they had grown a second head. "It's almost like you are actually in each other's heads, you can finish each other's sentences and thoughts even when the other isn't actually speaking."

"George was right, we really do need to figure out a way to do this in public. People really are going to think we are barmy."

"I don't know what that means, and who is George?"

"His more handsome brother." Hermione replied automatically, gulping down the drink in front of her. Briar laughed at the look on Fred's face.

"I'm wounded woman." He said as he dramatically clutched his shirt above his chest, glancing over to the woman seated across from them. "I guess if she prefers him over me, i'll just have to settle for you. You know, the more pretty sister."

Hermione smacked him on the back of the head while Briar laughed, her cheeks turning a deep crimson. "Don't you dare talk to my sister like that, she'll think she has a shot with you. You did kiss her after all."

"Attacked me is more like it." Briar snorted, in a way that reminded Fred very much of Hermione. "I had just come through the floo from the airport and was dusting the soot off of me when some strange man darted into the room claiming how much he missed me, and that waking up cold and alone was enough to make any man Barney. Whatever the hell that was supposed to mean. I didn't even have a chance to say anything before he started playing tonsil hockey with me."

Hermione grimaced at the mental picture. "I'm not sure what that means, but it sounds disgusting."

"Oh it was, too much tongue."

"Mmmm, I find I quite like his tongue."

"And on that note." Fred interrupted before _that_ particular conversation go too much further out of hand. He stood and offered his hand to Hermione "Let's go and find the infamous better looking brother and head to the Burrow. Mum is expecting us and you know she'll pop a clog if we don't show, no matter how crazy this day has already been."

Hermione sighed and let him pull her up.

"I don't even know what that means" She heard Briar grumble behind her, making the corners of her mouth twitch. Briar stood, drained the last of her drink and indicated to them she was ready to go.

"So where to now?" She asked.

"A quick jaunt through Diagon Alley and we will pop to the shop and up to the flat. Grab Georgie, who I am pretty sure is still pissed, and be on our way."

Briar looked at him for a long minute, then turned to Hermione. "It's almost like he is speaking words, I just have no idea what they mean."

Hermione snorted out a laugh. "He and his brother own a shop, or rather a store, in Diagon Alley. They live in a flat, an apartment if you will, above the shop. George was still passed out from the Alignment party last night, pissed means drunk."

"Ah, well then, lead the way to your jaunty pissed better looking flat brother."

"That... that's not at all what I just said." Fred responded, a little bewildered as he lead the girls out the back of the tavern and into all the glory of Diagon Alley.

From a grimy shop window a man watched as the girls passed by, too engrossed in their conversation to notice the tears leaking from his silvery eyes. He placed his hand on the cold, thin glass. That was all that was separating him from being with his beautiful granddaughters once more. One he had not seen since the end of the war, the other he had not seen since the day he laid his wife and daughter to rest.

Handing the girls over to their father was one of the hardest things he had ever done. It tore his already broken heart out as he watched the last living members of his family disappear behind the wooden door of the house in Godric's Hollow.


	18. Merlin's Old Grey Balls

"Wait, are you telling me that you're dating a twin, and you're a twin? Don't you know what that means if you ever have children? Two multiplied by Two is Four." Briar stopped, spinning around to face a blushing Hermione.

"See, it wasn't illogical at all! I'm still a pretty bright bloke even when I am half pissed."

"I believe you used that as an excuse to _not_ be with one of the Patil twins." Hermione stated, hands landing on her hips.

"No, I used it as an excuse to avoid mating with one of those screech owls you call friends. You being a twin changes nothing for me. I'd be okay with four curly redheaded swots running me for the rest of my life." Fred leaned over and planted a quick kiss on Hermione's cheek. "Now, you two stay here, I am not even sure if George is awake yet. He was still starkers and sprawled on the couch when I left. Wouldn't want you getting an eyefull of my 'more handsome' brother. Plus, I want to be the one to tell him the blinding news!" And with that he disappeared into the dark shop in front of them.

"We are not really dating, just kind of..." Hermione stated as Fred passed from view. She couldn't finish her statement because she honestly had no idea what she and Fred _were._

"Does he know that you are just...How do I put this gently? I'm sure you have some crazy British phrase for it that makes absolutely no sense. But where I come from, they call them fuck buddies." She raises her hands in mock surrender at the murderous look Hermione gave her. "I'm not judging, I had one once. Life long friend and everything. He was great in bed, but was definitely not boyfriend material, and that was completely fine. But he knew what the relationship was going in. I think Fred thinks you two are, like, together together."

Hermione let out a long sigh. Like I said, I don't really know what we are. I really like him. Truly. I'm not a slag that just sleeps with anyone willing to jump into bed with me. But I know Fred. He is not the settling down type. You should have seen him in school, he had a different girl every week, and from what I know he still does a pretty good job of avoiding anything past a third date. And it's not that I am using him, we just have not discussed what this, this _thing_ between us is. We haven't exactly had time to between werewolf attacks and surprise sisters!"

"What do you mean werewolf atta--"

"Merlin's old grey balls! You were not taking the mickey out of me! She really does have an identical twin." George's loud exclamation caused many passersby to stop and peer in their direction.

"Well. Now that's a mental picture I am going to have to live with for the rest of my life. Thanks for that, pal." George openly gawked at her.

"Very subtle, Georgie." Was all Fred said as he pushed past his flabberghasted brother, patting him on the shoulder as he did. "Alright you lot. We had best get on with it. Mum's going to send Gin after us if we don't make an appearance soon. And you know how happy Gin usually is after a night of fravolity."

"When I flooed out this morning the whole lot of your siblings, and Draco, were passed out in the living room. Last I saw, Ginny was going to sock one to Harry for dumping her on the floor in his panicked state." They all chuckled, although Hermione could tell that Briar only laughed because the others were.

"How many of them are there?" Briar asked Hermione as the twins put their heads together and started whispering.

"Eleven if you count their parents and Bill's wife and newborn. He's the oldest of their siblings. But soon there will be more, you know once the weddings start happening. Did Kingsley tell you about his wonderful idea to force everyone to get married and start popping kids out?" Briar nodded in response, muttering something about him being a complete ass. "All of the Weasley were paired except Fred, and George's girl backed out. But the rest of them are happily matched up."

"Oi, I heard that Granger. It's not my fault she decided to run away from all this eye candy." George stated, motioning up and down his body, causing both girls to scoff and roll their eyes in tandem.

"It might be best if we apparate, I don't fancy anyone seeing the current state of our flat." George leaned back over and whispered to his twin. Fred solemnly nodded in response.

"Right, we are going to apparate to the Burrow. Briar you can sidealong with George since you have never been there. It'll give you two a chance to get to know one another. Does that work for you twin-o-mine?"

"Perfectly." He stated simply as he took Briar's hand in his. Hermione just shook her head at the slight blush on her sister's cheeks, before the two apparated out of sight.

"They make a pretty cute couple if you ask me." Fred took Hermione's hand in his. "They remind me of another couple I once knew. I just can't quite put my finger on which couple it was though." And with a parting giggle from Hermione, the two disappeared from the alley, reappearing in the tall grass just outside the Burrow's wards. George and Briar were ahead of them, apparently too engrossed in their conversation to realize they were going to make their appearance alone.

 _Let's hang back a bit, see what everyone's reactions are._ Fred suggested giving Hermione a conspiratorial grin. _We'll hide round the house and make our grand entrance as soon as everyone starts to figure out that Briar isn't you and George isn't me._

 _Why, Mr. Weasley you are incorrigible._ Hermione rolled her eyes at him, but couldn't help the grin that mirrored his. What harm could it do to have a little fun with everyone?

 _That's my girl._

 **It's a short chapter, believe me I know. But that big earthquake in Fiji stirred up some pretty interesting marine animals and I had no choice but to fly out. It means I am going to be busy again, and I am not sure for how long this time, should be less than a fornight. I wanted to get something out for all of you though, so here it is. Let me know what you think! Oh, and I am still looking for a beta if anyone is interested.**


	19. Update, but not a chapteryet

Hello my Dearies! It's been awhile! I do apologize for my sudden and unexplained departure but I have had quite a busy time of things! My husband and I welcomed 2 very willful little men into our family a few (like 6) months ago and I actually had one of my 'for real' books published! So this little mummy has been run ragged. That being said, things are calming down a bit now, we are getting more than 4 hours of sleep at night, and I decided to leave my big-girl job to be a stay at home mum. So, I might actually be able to rock out a few more chapters for you. Anyone, other than me, excited about that?

Thank you all for your patience and understanding.

p.s. I was thinking about starting another story too. But we'll see...


	20. Hiding in the bushes

Hermione and Fred hustled down the path and reached the edge of the garden just as Briar and George were beginning to be notice by the party settling around the long table there.

Fred ducked behind the large gooseberry bush, dragging Hermione with him. ' _This spot will offer us the best vantage point to see and hear what is going on, without being seen.'_ His mischievous grin sending a small thrill through Hermione's body.

"Oh Fred, Hermione, the two of you got here just in time. Where is your brother?" Molly asked from her seat.

"No, mum, that's Saint George." Ginny replied spinning her fork round the table, looking sullen and bored.

Molly squinted at George's face, finally taking in the scar by his missing ear. "Oh dear, yes, you are right. Well George where is your brother," She paused briefly taking Briar in, her eyebrow quirking like she knew something wasn't quite right, but not being able to figure out what. "And why are you with Hermione?"

"Oh, uh," George began but was promptly cut off by a concerned looking Ginny.

"Hermione, what exactly are you wearing? It's utterly ghastly. And what have you done with your hair?"

"I." Briar began, her hand shootong up to smooth down her own chesnut curls, but she was also cut short when Molly chastised her daughter's manners.

Luna took that exact moment to make her appearance in the garden by way of the back gate, carrying a slightly oozing greenish yellow custard. "Hello all. I'm very sorry to be late, but the Bobatter pus pudding took a little longer to bake because of the position of the planets."

"It helps boost fertility you know." She whispered to George as she passed him.

"Hello Briar!" she said brightly and she placed the pudding on the table in front of a slightly green Ron, kissing him on the forehead before taking her seat next to him.

"Hi, Lu..." Briar began only to be cut off again.

"What exactly is _IN_ Bobatter Pus Pudding?" Ron asked scooting slightly closer to Harry, and away from the dribbling concoction.

"Well, obviously, Bobatter pus, Ronald." Charlie sniped back from across the table, earning him a chuckle from the blond man sitting next to him.

 _How does Luna know Briar?_ Fred asked, shooting a questioning eyebrow over to Hermione.

 _I have no idea, she was just over in America for almost two years though. And she was dating Rolf for most of that time. It's common knowledge that the Picquery family is very close with the Scamander family. Maybe they met though him? The better question is, how did she know that was Briar when even you couldn't tell us apart, and you've seen me naked?_

 _Ah, yes, I have seen you naked. And because of that fact I can die a happy man._ _But I think the better question is, how much of that fertility boosting pudding can I get into your system before the meal is through?_ He sent her his most teasing sultry smile. Hermione felt his amusement through the bond and had to suppress a laugh.

 _Oh look, Briar turns red when she is frustrated too!_ Fred pointed out

"So Hermione, how'd it go with that American snoot this morning?" Bill asked, dipping his finger into the mashed potatoes in front of him, earning a smack both from Molly and his wife.

"Excu.." Briar's face flared

"Bill!" Fleur admonished. " Eet iz not nice to say such tings. For all ve know she eez a lovely girl."

"Thank you, but"

"I bet she's a right swot, being raised in a family like hers. Bet you two got along famously, eh 'Mione?" Ron said around a large bite of a mini meat pie, smirking at her.

 _She looks like she's about to explode._ Fred chuckled quietly

 _She has more patience with your family's antics than I did when I was first invited to a Weasley gathering. It took all of fifteen seconds before I cursed Ron and ran out of the house in complete frustration, and that was AFTER already knowing you, George, and Ron for years. Your family is notorious for not letting a girl get a word in edgewise._

 _"_ Briar, how is Jovie doing? I miss him already." Luna asked, talking over the table again, earning her a few confused glances.

"He's.."

"Who in the bloody hell is Briar, Luna?" Harry finally asked, obviously still frustrated from the tongue lashing he had no doubt received from his girlfriend just a few hours previous.

 _Oh! I know that look!_ Fred exclaimed loudly in Hermione's head, making her jump and scowl at him in response. _Sorry, but_ _you make that same face when you are about to lay into someone. You know, it's almost eerie how similar the two of you are._

"I'm sorry but will y'all please shut up for like, one minute! I can't even hear myself think with all this godforsaken chatter!" Briar exploded. Promptly putting a halt to the various conversations happening around the table. "I'm good Luna, how are you? How's your Pop? Rolf took the breakup pretty rough, just so you know, although it looks like you are doing well. And Jovie is good, he's actually with Rolf now, he starts kindergarten this year so grandmama has him taking a few extra classes with Madame Mustifution."

"And you," Briar continued, rounding in on Bill and Ron. "I am the

furthest thing from a snoot thank you very much, and I don't even know what a 'swot' is, but it sounds too similar to 'swine' for me not to feel offended." Both boys paled in response to her words. She turned to Ginny next.

"I don't know you hun, but I already know I'm going to like you. But what is wrong with my clothing? Also, what do you mean by Saint George and why has no one told me this story already?"

"George Fabian, what have the two of you done to poor Hermione!? If this is one of your wacky inventions gone wrong you had better fix it this instant, or so help me you are going to meet your maker!"

 _I do believe it is time to give up the ghost, Hermione. Before the world is one Weasley down._

 _And what a shame it would be to lose the better looking one too._ Hermione winked at him in a very unHermione like way, before laughing loudly and standing up from her hiding spot, tugging Fred along with her.

"Oi, mum, we didn't do anything, Luna is right this _IS_ Briar Picquery." George had taken several steps back at his mother's murderous face.

The gate to the garden groaned its protest loudly as Hermione and Fred made their way into the garden, making everyone turn in their direction. All conversation cut off abruptly.

Hermione smiled brightly at the confused and shocked faces staring at her as Fred ushered her closer with a hand on her lower back. _This is rather fun isn't it._

 _Why do you think we do it so much? What is life without a few laughs?_

"Took the two of you long enough!" George exclaimed, throwing his hands up in frustration. "Mum was about to eviscerate me!"

"Oh we know," Hermione replied, giving him her best imitation of a Weasley Twin 'I'm up to something' smile. "We were watching it all unfold from just around the corner there. Personally I wanted to watch more, but Fred insisted we interrupt."

 _Such a voyeur Hermione Granger. We'll have to look into that little fact more at a later date._ Fred smirked at her sharp intake of breath, enjoying the heat he felt wash through her body at his words.

"I'm sorry, but I'm a bit confused here." Charlie said, his head bouncing between the two sets of twins. "How are there two of them?"

Hermione chuckled, but it was Fred who finally answered. "Well you lot, guess the American is out of the bag. This," he indicated Briar. "Is Hermione's long lost **_twin_** sister, Briar."

The chaos that ensued at his proclamation could have rivaled that of the Great Hall during the Halloween feast Hermione's first year at Hogwarts. And all she could do was laugh and lean on Fred as her large, loud family tried to digest and make sense of the news.


End file.
